


Liars and Imposters

by xhorizen



Category: Hanson (Band)
Genre: AU - No Band, AU - not famous, Brother/Brother Incest, Consensual Underage Sex, Drug Addiction, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Rockstar Taylor, This Time Around Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-01-25 15:31:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18577330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xhorizen/pseuds/xhorizen
Summary: 15 year old Zac hasn't seen his brother, Taylor, since he jetted off to LA to sign a record deal 4 years ago. When Taylor overdoses and is placed under their father's care, Zac and Taylor are forced to learn how to be brothers again and deal with the unexpected feelings that pop up along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh I know it's been forever (okay, like three weeks), but I'm almost done with Camp Nano and I am so in love with my fic that I just had to start posting it before April is even over. I hope you enjoy the new fic, let me know what you think in the comments!

Chapter One

** Taylor **

A faint buzzing sound was the first thing Taylor heard when he started waking up. Small beeps followed, coming at regular intervals, and a pang of familiarity hit him. He tried to place it without opening his eyes, he was sure that once he opened his eyes, he would be forced to come back to reality and reality wasn’t a place he liked too much. He tried to keep his breathing even, in case someone was around him, looking for signs of life, but then he heard his father’s voice come from a little ways away from where he was and his eyes snapped open.

A hospital room - He had been right. But why was he there? The last thing he remembered was hanging out with Alex after a show, they’d gone back to his place like they normally did, broken out the cocaine, and then… Blank. Everything from that point was blank. He didn’t even know what day it was! He heard footsteps make their way down the hall of what he now knew was the hospital and thought through his options. He could slam his eyes shut again and pretend to be asleep, though he could only keep that up for so long, he could jump out of the bed and try to escape, leaving his dad behind, or he could just lay there, stiff as a board, awaiting his doom. 

Walker, his father, appeared in the doorway before he could make an actual decision, so he was forced to go with the third option by default - Anytime his father was involved in his life, he most definitely was going to be awaiting his doom. 

“Oh good, you’re awake. The doctor said you can leave as soon as the nurses can discharge you. We’ve arranged for a private escorted entrance out the back of the hospital so that everyone outside won’t disturb your exit.” Taylor screwed up his face in confusion, there were so many words coming out of his dad’s mouth that he had a hard time keeping up, not to mention the fact that he hadn’t even seen the man in a few years. 

“What day is it? Where’s mom?” Walker rolled his eyes and stepped all the way into the room, stopping about a foot from the side of his bed. 

“It’s Wednesday, you fool, and your mother couldn’t be bothered to come home from Milan to take care of your sorry ass, so you’re stuck with me.” 

“I’m emancipated, in case you forgot, I don’t actually need you to come around and tell me what to do. I’ve been doing just fine the past few years without you.” Walker let out a bark of a laugh and Taylor almost flinched, the sound so harsh to his ears. 

“You call a cocaine overdose fine? Wow, your standards really have gone downhill since the last time I saw you.” Taylor felt anger and rage build up in the pit of his stomach, it was always this way when his dad was involved, and he didn’t feel like dealing with it when he had a major migraine and all he wanted to do was sleep for a week. 

“I don’t see why you even care, you shouldn’t have come. Get the hell out of here and go back home, your real son needs you.” 

“Unfortunately, that’s something I can’t do.” Walker sat down on the edge of his bed and it took everything inside of Taylor not to kick him off. “You see, I’m pulling rank. I am your father and like it or not, you’re still only 17 years old. You may be emancipated, but you’ve proven that you can’t take care of yourself. I already have a court date set in Tulsa to petition for conservatorship of you until you can prove you aren’t a danger to yourself, and a danger to society.” 

“WHAT?!” Taylor shot up in the bed, wincing when some of the sticky electrodes attached to him pulled on the sparse chest hair he had. He started to peel them off of himself, causing alarms to start going off on the machines surrounding the head of his bed. A nurse came bustling into the room, slapping his hand away from what he was doing. 

“Those are there for a reason, they’re monitoring your heart. You did quite a number on your body and we are still monitoring to make sure everything is alright.” The red headed nurse spoke to him as though he was a child and it made Taylor want to punch her, despite the fact that he had been taught never to hit a lady. 

“I thought the doctor said I can leave whenever you find time to let me.” He snarled, sulking back into the bed, putting on his best indignant look. 

“Which we’re working on. But for now, you’re still in my house, so you play by my rules.” Taylor rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything else - He _did_ want to get out of the hospital eventually and he knew arguing with the nurses would just prolong things. She finally left the room again once she had repositioned all of his monitors to her satisfaction. He crossed his arms over his chest and had to resist the urge to stick his tongue out at his dad, who was giving him an amused smile from the end of the bed. 

“Your spoiled little rock star attitude isn’t going to get you very far in the real world, Taylor. The sooner you learn that, the better.” 

“I don’t have to do what you want me to!” He knew he sounded like a child, he hated it really, but he didn’t know what else to say. The last thing he wanted was to have his father involved in his life, and the sooner he left, the sooner Taylor could keep living his life. 

“No, maybe you don’t have to do what I want you to, but I have a court order from LA County stating that if I don’t bring you into my custody, they are going to force you to go to rehab by court order. Is that how you want to be known, Taylor? As the washed up pop star has-been who got sent to rehab by 17 because he couldn’t keep up with the big boys?” The urge to kill him coursed through Taylor’s veins, he had never felt so much anger, so much hatred, toward one singular person, but it didn’t surprise him at all that he would feel that way toward his father. 

“I’d rather die than go back to middle of nowhere, Oklahoma with you.” He spat out, moving his gaze to the ceiling. He couldn’t stand to look at the person he was forced to acknowledge as his dad any longer. 

“There’s a plane ticket with your name waiting at LAX. We’re taking off at 9am tomorrow. If you decide to go to rehab instead, the head nurse has the address and can call you a cab to get there. If you decide to skip out on both of these things, Taylor, you will be arrested. Even you can’t be that stupid.” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Taylor let out a growl of frustration and threw the first thing he could get his hands on at the door to the hospital room. Unfortunately, the first thing was his call button/remote control, so it stayed connected to his bed and gave him exactly none of the satisfaction that he was looking for. Instead, he threw himself into the back of the bed and pouted, trying to figure out how he was going to get out the huge mess he’d gotten himself into. 

\--

The flight to Oklahoma was entirely too long and hot and stuffy and jesus, when did planes get so small anyway? It had been forever since he’d been forced to fly in a commercial jet, let along in _coach_ and he felt like he was going to die. The least Walker could have done was spring for first class seats, the cheap bastard. He had shown up at the airport at the last possible second, against his better judgement, and joined his dad on the flight straight to hell. Whatever airline they were flying didn’t have assigned seating, so luckily he was able to sit in the back, far from everyone, including his father, but when he tried to order a rum and coke, the stewardess had asked for his ID! HE hadn’t been carded since he was 13 years old, and that was simply because he had looked like a child back then! He wanted to cause a scene, to demand if the woman even knew who he was, but if he did, likely someone would get pictures or even call TMZ to let them know about his outburst and then he would be hounded for interviews and even though his manager said any publicity was good publicity, he didn’t want to get a reputation as a spoiled, rich asshole.

Well. More of a reputation than he had, anyway. 

By the time the wheels touched down at the Tulsa airport, he was itching to get out of the confined area. He was never a fan of flying, he spent most of the flights he was forced to take because of his career either drunk or passed out thanks to a super relaxed xanax prescription. The less he had to know that he was flying in a tin can though the sky at hundreds of miles per hour, the better. Even though he was at the back of the plane, he practically shoved his way to the front, earning himself a few glares and muttered obscenities along the way. He didn’t even care though because as soon as the cockpit door was open, he was on the ramp and even though it wasn’t solid land, it was still a hell of a lot more solid than the air, so he was instantly more calm than he’d felt the last three hours. 

It was likely his father had parked the car at the airport so he wouldn’t have to call a taxi or wait for a friend to pick him up, so Taylor was forced to wait for him once inside of the airport. He had only flown from there one time before, when he was leaving to head to California to sign his record contract at 13, and as he looked around, it didn’t seem like much had changed. For an airport that claimed to be international, it was much smaller than any airport he’d flown into or out of the past few years. If he remembered anything about Oklahoma, it was that everything was small and outdated and just plain terrible. 

He was practically bouncing up and down on the soles of his feet by the time Walker joined him inside of the building.

“Took ya long enough.” He muttered under his breath as they started toward the exit. Walker stopped walking and just stared at Taylor as he continued to walk. When he realized he was walking alone, he turned back and made eye contact with his father, shivering at the amount of disgust he saw in it. 

“I know you’re used to people kissing your ass all the time, Taylor, but I’m here to tell you right here and right now that I will not be treated like one of your servants. You do not pay me to take care of you, and you do not talk to me as though you’re better than me. Little boy, you have a lot to learn about life, and you’re going to start right now.” He walked up until he was inches from Taylor’s face, and as much as he wanted to take a step back, to reclaim his space, Taylor couldn’t stand down from his father - it was a challenge. “If you so much as step a toe out of line while living under my roof, I will send you straight to rehab, no discussion. You got that?” 

Taylor wanted to spit in his face, to scream at him, to accuse him of being an absent father, but he knew if he made a scene, he would just be playing right into his father’s hands. Instead, he just nodded and bit his tongue to keep every word he wanted to say inside. He felt sick, as though everything he was holding back was physical and filling his stomach with acid, and it took everything in him not to throw up right there. Walker took off toward the exit again and Taylor trudged after him, his eyes to the floor. He’d never felt so helpless before, and he hated the feeling. 

The drive to their house from the airport was short, he’d forgotten that they only lived about 10 minutes away, and he could see the skyscrapers of downtown Tulsa from the front door. He felt a weird sensation come over him, one akin to relief, or maybe it was just breathing in fresh air that wasn’t filled with smog and pollution. Regardless, as much as Taylor has been dreading coming back to Tulsa, a small part of him thought that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.


	2. Chapter 2

** Zac **

The first memory Zac had with his brother Taylor was playing basketball. He was four, maybe five years old, and Taylor had been tasked with babysitting him, so they’d gone to the park. Taylor had started playing basketball with the local rec center, so he course he’d brought his brand new basketball with them so he could practice. Zac begged to play with him after he watched his brother throw free throws (and miss) for the better part of 20 minutes, and Taylor had relented, passing him the ball.

He still remembered the feeling of the ball in his hands for the first time - It was standard issue, much too big for his small hands, but he still managed to dribble the ball with both hands and throw it up in the air toward the basket. He made it nowhere close to the net, but Taylor had given him a high five and a big hug as though he had done something amazing. The high from feeling that kind of approval from his big brother was enough to make him practice day after day until he finally managed to throw the ball hard enough to hit the backboard. It had taken him the entire summer before he went to kindergarten, but it was worth it for the smile that overtook Taylor’s face when he was finally able to show off his new skill. 

“Zac, that’s so cool, I’m so proud of you!” He exclaimed as he threw his arms around him. Zac wanted to stay like that forever, basking in the feelings of pride and happiness, but it wasn’t long before the feelings went away. Only a few months later, their parents told them that they were going to be getting a divorce. Zac didn’t even know what that was at the time, but Taylor immediately burst into tears and ran up to his room, slamming the door. Zac had started crying right after, his older brother’s reaction scaring him. 

His parents had sat him down and explained what was going to happen, and that since he was a big boy, he would get to choose who he wanted to live with. It had taken some time, he kept insisting that he wanted to live with both of his parents at the same time, even though he was told he couldn’t do that, and finally, he ended up picking his dad. They’d always gotten along a little better, his mother always seemed so consumed with Taylor that Zac often felt neglected by her. He shouldn’t have been surprised, then, that Taylor chose to live with their mom, and he could practically feel his little five year old heart break. Not only was he losing his mom, but he was losing his older brother, too? 

Taylor and their mom moved into a house on the other side of town, and their mom had promised that they would still see each other plenty, he would barely begin to miss Taylor by the time they would see each other next, and that’s how things went… For a little while. By the time the next summer came around, Taylor was eight and had progressed into competitive basketball at the rec center and for some reason had also started learning how to play the piano. All of his activities had left him little time to spend with Zac, and he started to hate his brother. He joined the rec center basketball team, just so he would have an excuse to spend time with Taylor, but since they were on two different teams, the only time they really got to spend together were the rides to and from practices. 

By the time Zac was 10, he was playing competitive basketball, but Taylor had long since abandoned the sport to pursue his new dream of becoming a rockstar. Learning piano had turned into voice lessons that had turned into performing at different festivals around town, gathering a small following of fans who loved his older brother. He was jealous as any kid could be, he barely got time with Taylor as it was, and all of a sudden he was expected to share the little time he had with a bunch of strangers who liked to hear him sing? He used to go to the shows with his mom and sit front row, grinning ear to ear, hoping Taylor would look at him and smile and recognize him as his number one fan, but every gig he played, it seemed as though he deliberately wouldn’t even look at Zac. It hurt so much more than anything he could explain, and before long, he stopped going with his mom altogether. If Taylor didn’t want to acknowledge his presence, then he didn’t need to be there anyway. 

When Taylor took off for LA, Zac already hadn’t seen him for a little over three months. As much as he tried to act like he didn’t miss his older brother, he couldn’t help but feel like he had an ice cream scoop size of heart missing from his chest any time he thought about him. He wanted to have a relationship with him like they’d had when they were little, but with Taylor ready to sign a record contract, Zac knew he would likely never see him for any significant amount of time again. 

And he was right. Taylor never added Oklahoma as a tour stop on his tours, he rarely would talk about where he was from in interviews, and he never called home to check in on him and their dad. He tried calling the different hotels he would be at every so often, just to see if he would pick up, but even after leaving message after message, Taylor would never call back. He finally gave up trying and resigned himself to the fact that he no longer had an older brother. At least, not one that gave a crap about him. 

In spite of all of that, Zac still kept tabs on what was going on with him. He kept up on his tour, he looked on fan sites for pictures, and wished that he could see him perform. There were all sorts of rumors going around connecting Taylor to other musicians, men, sexually, but Zac just shrugged those off - Taylor had barely even begun to show an interest in anything sexually by the time he left, why would he be gay? The rumors that actually concerned him were the ones about drugs. Cocaine seemed to be the popular rumor of choice, and Zac did everything he could do to dispel the rumors as fast as they started. He would create accounts on fan boards and defend Taylor to anyone who said anything negative, though since he didn’t want to reveal himself as his little brother, it was hard to tell people exactly _why_ he knew so strongly that Taylor just was not that way. Eventually, he gave up trying because it didn’t do any good - for him or for his brother. Taylor didn’t give a damn what people said about him, so why should Zac care? 

He was able to convince himself of that until one night when he had MTV on and a breaking news story came though that “Rock Star Taylor Hanson has been rushed to the hospital for a suspected drug overdose.” He’d only been paying half his attention to the TV, but his brother’s name caught his attention and he scrambled for the remote, stabbing at the volume button until it was so loud it could probably be heard from all around the house. The program didn’t give him too much more information, just that he was hanging out with Alex Greenwald, one of the singers he had been romantically linked to, and that he had been taken to UCLA Medical Center. Zac stared at the TV screen for much longer than necessary, trying to understand what he had just witnessed, before finally he got up and grabbed the landline, punching in the number to his dad’s work. 

“You know you’re not supposed to call me during work hours.” Walker answered the phone gruffly and Zac winced, he hated it when his dad spoke to him that way. 

“I know, but I wasn’t sure if you knew. T-Taylor, he overdosed on drugs, he was taken to the hospital last night.” Walker was silent on the other end of the line for a minute before speaking again. 

“How did you find out? Did your mother call you?” Zac shook his head, then remembered he couldn’t be seen. 

“No. I was watching TV and it came on MTV.” His dad cursed a few choice curse words before sighing.

“I’ll be home in a little bit. Do me a favor and call the airlines and try to get me the quickest ticket to LA?” 

“Sure, dad. See you in a bit.” He hung up without a proper goodbye and set about doing what he was told, dialing airlines until he finally managed to find a ticket that would get Walker to LA around 4am the next morning. He went on autopilot, not sure he could really concentrate on anything when he was suddenly so worried about Taylor being dead. He couldn’t be dead, right? He was only 17, afterall, what 17 year old just dies? 

_The kind who take a ton of coke and dies of an overdose._ His inner voice spoke up, causing his heart to speed up and his breathing to increase. He had been experiencing episodes like that for a couple of months, though they got worse and worse as he had more. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and his vision got blurry and he didn’t know what was wrong with him, and honestly he was too scared to find out. He was broken out of it by the sound of a slamming door and Walker shouting his name. He hurried to the living room and conveyed all of the flight details, slightly grateful that his father’s appearance had brought him out of… Whatever it was that he had been experiencing. 

“Will you be alright here by yourself for a few days? I don’t know…” Walker trailed off, obviously not wanting to say anything about death or Taylor being dead if he didn’t have to. 

“I’ll be fine. Just go do what you need to do, I’ll take the bus to school.” His dad gave him a tight smile and a short hug before heading up the stairs to pack a bag. 

\--

Walker was gone for four days. Zac hadn’t heard from him except a quick phone call to let him know that Taylor wasn’t dead, he was fine - just stupid - and he couldn’t help but be grateful for the news. He may have been upset with his brother, and never want to talk to him again, but he didn’t want him dead. He spent the rest of the time alone going to school, playing video games, or at basketball practice. He knew he lived a pretty boring life, he had friends, but he wasn’t the party type. He was on the basketball team at school, but he was second string JV, no matter how hard he tried, and none of the varsity players even looked his way, let along invited him to the parties that would involve drinking and who knows what else. He wasn’t bitter, for the most part, though he did kind of wish he understood what all the fuss was about. 

He’d just gotten set up in the driveway with his hoop to start practicing his free throws (a not so subtle hint from his coach) when his dad’s car pulled up and parked at the curb. He held the ball with two hands, ready to pass it to his dad to start a game of one on one when he got out of the car, but then he saw someone sitting in the passenger’s seat and he froze, the ball falling from his hands. 

It was Taylor. 

It had been a while since he’d seen his brother in the flesh, years, but he looked just the same as he did before he left, if a little older. He barely looked anything like the person he saw in pictures online or performing to sold out arenas on tour. Gone were the eyeliner and the glitter and the leather jackets and in their place… Just his older brother. He almost gasped out loud, he wasn’t expecting to see him, but he managed to keep his reaction to himself, choosing instead to just stare at Taylor while he got out of the car and wrestled with his suitcase. He wanted to laugh, he made such a simple task look like the hardest thing he’d ever done. If he were a better person, he would walk over to the car and help him out, but he wasn’t, so he just stood there, enjoying his rockstar brother struggle. 

Walker made his way up the driveway and clapped him on the shoulder. “You stay out of trouble while I was gone?” Zac nodded. 

“Yes sir. You know me, regular ole’ lame-o.” Walker laughed and shook his head. 

“You say lame, I say it means you have a bright future ahead of you.” He glanced back at Taylor, who was trying to maneuver his luggage up the driveway, and back at him. “Unlike some people.” A pang of sadness flooded him, he hated that his dad, Taylor’s dad, _their_ dad, seemed to deem Taylor a lost cause, but then again, he did just pick him up from the hospital after a drug overdose, so maybe he wasn’t too far off. 

Walker moved on, walking into the house, while Taylor practically crawled up the driveway. He stopped when he was close to Zac and put the suitcase down, shaking out his arm as though he had just carried the thing up 20 flights of stairs. 

“So, the prodigal rock star son returns.” Zac quipped, a small smirk making its way to his face. Antagonizing Taylor as soon as he got home wasn’t the smartest thing, but he couldn’t help himself - Taylor was already acting like a diva. 

“Oh shut up.” Taylor snapped, glaring at him so hard Zac could practically feel it burning through him. “What do you know anyway?” Zac shrugged and turned to the basketball hoop, shooting the ball and cringing when it missed. 

“I dunno. I’m only 15. I play basketball.” Taylor snorted. 

“Yeah, poorly, I can see that.” Zac had just gotten the ball back in his grasp and had to resist the urge to throw it at Taylor’s head. Who the hell did he think he was?! 

“Whatever, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Zac turned his back to his brother and concentrated on the hoop before shooting the ball up, cursing under his breath when he missed again. 

“Yeah, okay, whatever you say.” He didn’t need to turn around to know that Taylor had rolled his eyes, but was also smirking right back at him since he had missed the basket again. As much as his anger flared at what a jerk his brother was, he was also mad at himself for missing the baskets. They weren’t even that hard, and why did he have to miss in front of Taylor, of all people?! He dribbled the ball while he listened for Taylor to leave and once he thought it was safe, he turned around, letting out a sigh of relief when he was nowhere to be seen. 

If their first interaction went so poorly, Zac was scared to what happened when the actually had to cohabitate. He threw the ball at the basket in frustration and when it missed, cursed loudly. It just wasn’t his day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the feedback on my first chapter!! Hope you liked the second, can't wait to see your thoughts <3


	3. Chapter 3

** Taylor **

The room Taylor had been given was smaller than any room he had lived in in his life. When he had lived in that house before his parents got divorced, he’d had the bigger room, though that one was Zac’s now and while it made sense, but it still made him mad. He had given up his childhood to pursue his dreams, and he couldn't even live in his own space? He’d spent a few minutes of the drive trying to convince Walker to let him get his own place, somewhere close by, where he could still fulfill his duties as the suddenly most caring father of the year, but Walker had put his foot down. Part of the deal in taking Taylor in was that he had to keep him in his house, under his supervision - living in another house or apartment wouldn't cut it. He tried to protest, but not for long because once Walker had his mind set on something, he really wouldn’t change his mind.

He lifted his suitcase onto the twin size bed (twin size bed, honestly, who lived like that?), grunting under the weight. He didn’t even know what was packed, Walker had taken the initiative to pack it for him, and he vaguely wondered what he would have done with the suitcase if Taylor hadn’t shown up. Then he would just have a bag of his stuff and no son to go with it. Or maybe Walker knew he would show up all along, because nothing was worse than court ordered rehab. Maybe he should give Walker some more credit, maybe he actually knew him better than he thought he did.

Taylor stopped what he was doing and thought about it for a second before laughing and shaking his head. Nah, no way did his father know him - he only pretended to, and even then, it was only so outsiders would think he was father of the year. He snorted under his breath, father of the year. 

He unzipped his suitcase and surveyed the contents. He started taking things out and laying them out on the bed, becoming more and more annoyed as each piece was revealed. What, did his dad pull stuff from the back of his closet? He didn’t wear polo shirts anymore, and the last time he’d worn a t-shirt that wasn’t name brand was when he was still new to the scene and didn’t know any better. Halfway through unpacking, he growled in frustration and knocked the suitcase off his bed. Nothing in it was going to work, clearly he would need to go shopping to fix his wardrobe issue. 

The bed looked inviting, even in its smallness, and Taylor lay down, curling onto his side, his back to the door. He wished he were back at home, his real home, and he missed Alex more than he thought he would. They weren’t even really dating, just… Hanging out. And fucking some. And doing drugs together. But they weren’t official and they didn’t even hang out too much in the public eye - Alex was 20 and his band had a lot more male fans with songs that were a lot heavier than what Taylor sang, and Alex didn’t want to ruin his reputation. And Taylor didn’t care because, well, they weren’t dating, so why did he care what his friend thought? 

A pang in his stomach tried to make him acknowledge the lie he had told himself for the past year, but he wouldn’t do it - He was steadfast in his resolve to ignore whatever it was that his subconscious wanted him to bring out. He just wouldn’t do it, he had way too much to lose to pine after some guy who wouldn’t even hang out with him in the daylight. He felt stinging hit the back of his eyes and he squeezed them shut as tight as he could, trying to keep them at bay. He was 17 years old for god’s sake, he was a goddamn adult, he needed to stop acting like such a child! He relaxed his facial muscles as the urge to cry went away and he just lay there, trying to figure out what on god’s green earth he was going to do in Okla-fucking-homa.

A crashing sound jerked him awake, he hadn’t even meant to fall asleep. He turned over on his bed and promptly fell off, not used to having next to no bed to work with. He groaned and lay on his back, hoping if maybe he prayed hard enough, he would finally wake up from the nightmare he’d been living the past couple of days.

“Uh, dude? Did you die?” He opened his eyes and sighed, sitting up. 

“Why is the bed so fucking small? Honestly, it’s like child sized.” Zac looked down at him with a stunned look on his face for a second before he just shook his head. 

“Are you ever going to let this whole spoiled diva act go? You’ve been here for a few hours and I’m already over it.” Taylor felt his face go hot, which meant he had turned beet red, and he hauled himself up to his feet. 

“I don’t know what act you’re talking about, this is the person I am, Zac, and if you don’t like it, then that’s your problem. I don’t actually care what you think.” A look Taylor wasn’t familiar with flashed across Zac’s face, but it was gone quickly, replaced with a blank stare. 

“Whatever, Taylor. Dad sent me up to get you, dinner is on the table and we eat together.” 

“What the hell are you guys, the brady bunch? We didn’t even do that when mom and dad were still together.” Zac glared at him and shook his head before turning on his heel and leaving Taylor’s room. He wanted to throw things at his little brother’s receding back, but instead chose to be the mature one in the situation - someone had to be. 

Dinner with Zac and their dad was one of the most awkward things Taylor had experienced in a really long time, and that was saying something considering he’d walked in an orgy as a party he’d been at last week. He pushed around the food on his plate, he was never a really big eater in the first place, and dinner was not an important meal to him - He was normally getting ready to perform or getting ready to go to a party or _something_ a hell of a lot more exciting than his new suburban life promised. He ate a few bites of food so that he could at least say he tried, and then pushed his chair back from the table, ready to head back to his room. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Walker’s voice didn’t raise, nor did he even look at Taylor, but he knew he was talking to him. 

“I’m done eating, I’m going back to my room.” 

“Zac and I aren’t done eating, you’ll sit at the table until we’re both done.” Taylor’s jaw dropped and he looked at his father as though he had four heads. 

“Are you kidding? That’s ridiculous!” Walker finally looked up at him and pointed at his chair with the fork in his hand. 

“I said sit. Down. Now.” 

“I don’t live in a prison, this is a house, and I’m done eating, so I’m leaving the table!” He walked to the kitchen and put his plate in the sink before turning around. The sight of Walker standing in the kitchen doorway made him jump, he hadn’t heard him follow him. 

“You live in my house, Jordan Taylor, we established that already. In my house come my rules. You will follow them. Is that clear?” 

“Okay, seriously, this is getting old. You’re acting like a warden, and you’re my dad. I don’t answer to you, Walker, I haven’t answered to you since I was 10 years old.” A little bit of hesitation started in the pit of his stomach, but he took a deep breath and walked to the door, intent on shouldering past Walker if he wouldn’t move. 

Instead, Walker stuck out his hand and grabbed Taylor’s arm, squeezing it hard. “I am your father. Whether you like it or not, that is a goddamn fact, and you will treat me with respect in my household.” Taylor was staring into his eyes and the look he saw there genuinely scared him. He couldn’t ever remember his father with that kind of emotion coursing through him. “If you don’t like it, I’ll book you the next flight to rehab. Or jail. Your choice. You’re already a loser of a kid, do you really want to be a loser of a man?”

Taylor jerked his arm out of his grasp, but didn’t move. Instead, he went to his chair and sat down at the dinner table obediently, not getting up until he was permission. He dashed up the stairs and slammed the door to his room, crumbling to the floor behind the closed door. What had he gotten himself into?

A series of beeps and vibrations sounded from his backpack and he jumped up, grabbing it and rummaging through it. He found his cell phone and hit the home button, a small smile taking over his face when he saw who had messaged him - Alex. 

_R u ok?_ As much as he wanted to be mad at Alex (after all he’d been in the hospital since Sunday, it was Thursday!), he had never mastered the ability to be mad at him for periods lasting longer than a few minutes, at bed. 

_**Yeah. Dad came 2 pick me up, am in Tulsa** _

_Tulsa, like Oklahoma? IE Nowhere? ___

___**Ugh, yes, don’t remind me.**_ A few minutes went by without a response, so he sent another. _ _

__**_Miss u._** An answer came back almost immediately. _ _

___Miss u 2._ He felt so stupid for how much those three little words could affect him. He wanted to call Alex, to tell him about the stupidity that was his life, but a quick glance at the clock showed it was 7pm Tulsa time, so only 4pm in LA. Alex probably just woke up from whatever binge he’d done the night before and wouldn’t answer the phone. They were never the types to talk on the phone anyway - Their connection went deeper than meaningless phone calls. So instead, he pocketed his phone and sat back down on the bed, intent on making a plan on how to get the hell out of Tulsa._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading so far! I'm trying to update more frequently!!! Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

** Zac **

The first week Taylor was home was torture for Zac. They fought over absolutely everything, from whose turn it was to take out the trash to who left the cap off the toothpaste (it was always Taylor, but he refused to admit it, _ever_ ), and he was ready to strangle his older brother. School was never a place he had liked to be, but ever since Taylor moved in, school was his only safe haven. Well, there and basketball practice, but he hadn’t been practicing as much as he should have been and his already mediocre game had gotten even worse, so really, practice was almost worse than being home.

The first weekend Taylor was home, Zac tried to mend fences - He offered to go to the mall with his brother who’d been complaining 24/7 about the lack fashionable clothing that had been packed for him. They’d spent hours at the Woodland Hills Mall, going from store to store, Zac growing more and more upset as Taylor dismissed literally everything he looked at. 

“Seriously, you’d think that someone in this backwards state would bring in something worthwhile to wear.” He’d exclaimed for what seemed like the 500th time as he tossed yet another shirt and pair of jeans to the side. Zac had leaned against a display and was barely paying attention to what he had to say because everything was so freaking negative. 

“Yeah.” He mumbled half heartedly under his breath, rolling his eyes a little. 

“You’re the one who suggested coming with me, I don’t know why you’re acting like you’re being tortured.” Taylor turned to him and put his hands on his hips. Zac looked up at him and couldn’t help but let out a bark of a laugh. He just looked so out of place! His clothes screamed trying too hard to look cool and they didn’t look like they belonged in Tulsa, Oklahoma at all, hell, they barely looked like they belonged on the planet Earth. 

“Excuse me but I didn’t think you were going to act like such an asshole.”

“How am I being an asshole? I’m just trying to figure out how to function in this backwards town.” Zac shook his head and pushed off from the display he was leaning on, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“You don’t have to be here, ya know. You could just leave and never come back.” 

“That’s actually not true, but fuck you for butting into shit you don’t understand.” Zac rolled his eyes and grunted. 

“Yeah, okay, sure, whatever you say Taylor. As if I need to know the specifics in order to know that you almost died because you’re a fucking moron and you needed dad to bail you out so you wouldn’t go to jail.” He took one step forward, then another, until he was close enough to Taylor that he was almost nose to nose with him. “You should have just died. We’d be a lot better off.” 

Before he could even realize what was happening, Zac was stumbling back into one of the clothing displays, Taylor’s face twisted with rage as he shoved him away from him. It took him a minute to regain his composure, but once he did, he charged forward, bringing his hands to Taylor’s chest and shoving him hard. He went flying into the shirt display behind him, bringing it to the ground as he fell on top of it. Zac went after him, falling to the ground and grabbing him by the front of his shirt before punching him in the face. He brought his arm back to deliver another blow when Taylor shifted and unbalanced him, causing Zac to fall to the side. Taylor jumped on top of him and punched him in the face once, twice, and then a third time. 

“Fuck you and your high horse, Zac.” He spat as he went to deliver a fourth punch. He was stopped, however, when someone grabbed his arm and yanked, causing him to fall off of his brother and to the ground next to him. Zac looked up and saw three security guards surrounding them and groaned - They were going to be in so much trouble. 

\--

Two hours later, Zac and Taylor were finally released from the mall. Security had separated them and kept them apart until they were cooled off, and then had to push through some paperwork on the fight, but since neither of them wanted to press assault charges on the other, the cops weren’t called and they were free to go. Taylor took off, almost running, and Zac actually had to jog to keep up with him. He followed his brother to the parking lot, but fell behind when Taylor actually _did_ start running to the car. 

“What are you doing?!” Zac yelled after him, trying to keep up. Despite the basketball drills he went through, cardio was never his strong suit and he already felt winded. Taylor ignored him and got to the car, unlocking it quickly and jumping into the driver’s seat. Immediately, Zac realized what he was up to and ran as fast as he could to the car. He got to the passenger’s side door and tried to open it, but it was locked. “Taylor, unlock the door!” Taylor pointedly didn’t look at him and just put the car in reverse. Zac pulled on the door handle as the car backed up, getting more and more frantic. “OPEN THE DOOR TAYLOR!” He yelled, banging on the window as he did so. 

Once Taylor had reversed enough to clear the spot, he put the car in drive and hit the gas, almost running over Zac’s foot in the process. Zac stood in the middle of the aisle, looking on in shock - Did Taylor seriously just leave him stranded at the mall?! He stared after the car as it turned down the mail aisle and to the traffic light. He was still half convinced Taylor would come back, but then he turned out of the mall and he was gone. He’d actually left him with no way to get home! 

A quick phone call and 20 minutes later, he was being picked up by his dad. Once he was buckled in and they were on their way home, Walker spoke. 

“So what happened?” Zac sighed and looked out the window, wishing he didn’t have to answer. 

“We got into a fight and he took off without me.” If Walker hadn’t been driving, Zac knew he would be staring holes into his head, waiting for more information, but since he _was_ driving, Zac felt as though he was able to escape saying more. They drove in silence for a few more minutes until Walker pulled off the main road into some neighborhood and parked on the side of the street. 

“Either you tell me what happened right now or we’ll sit here until you do.” Zac wanted to test him, to stay silent until Walker gave in and took them home, but his dad was as stubborn as he was, if not more so, and he knew if he didn’t talk, they would never leave. 

“He was being such a jerk while we were shopping, he was acting like this spoiled rich… Asshole.” He glanced at his dad after saying the last word, he didn’t normally curse around him and he fully expected to be reprimanded for it, but when Walker didn’t say anything, he continued. “He kept talking about how Tulsa was just so terrible and like it’s such a loser place to live, and I just got sick of it. I kind of lost my temper and…” He trailed off, thinking about what he’d said to his older brother, suddenly feeling ashamed. “I told him he should have died when he OD’d.” He looked down at his lap and wrung his hands together, waiting for the blow up. 

“I… Don’t even know what to say to that. I can’t say I’m proud of you, because I most definitely am not, and I never thought I raised you to speak to your own flesh and blood that way.” Zac’s head snapped up and he glared at his dad. 

“Are you kidding me? You’ve said so much worse about him and he’s your kid!” Instantly, Zac knew he’d crossed a line. The look on Walker’s face was suddenly filled with anger and something else he couldn’t quite place, but he’d never seen it before and it scared him. 

“Zachary Walker Hanson, you will never speak to me that way ever again, do you hear me? I am your father and you will treat me with respect.” Zac cowered back against his seat and nodded meekly. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Good. Now, we’re going to go home and when we get there, you’re going to apologize to your brother for what you said. He’s made mistakes in his life, but he doesn’t deserve to have his little brother throw them in his face.” Zac didn’t know what else to say, he hadn’t ever really been reprimanded by his father before, he’d always been a good kid, and he felt ashamed to have caused such a reaction from him. Walker started up the car again and turned around, making his way to the main road again, heading home. 

\--

Taylor still wasn’t home by the time Zac and Walker arrived and it had been a good hour and a half since he’d left the mall. Zac thought maybe he should be worried, but then again, he was still irritated with himself and his brother for the mess they’d created that day that he couldn’t admit to himself that he was a little worried. Taylor had a history of drug use, after all, a bad history of it, and what if he’d gone looking for something to cool off from their fight?

The house phone rang as Zac trudged up the stairs to his room. He stopped in the middle of the stairway and listened as his dad picked it up. Most of the words were garbled and hard to understand, but he got the gist of it - Taylor had gotten lost trying to get home from the mall and had no idea where he was. Zac almost laughed, rock star Taylor Hanson was lost in podunk Tulsa, Oklahoma, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to find pleasure in his unfortunate situation. 

“Zac, I’m going out! Your brother got lost, he’s at a gas station in Bartlesville, of all places. I’m going to go find him.” Zac opened his mouth to reply, but he heard the front door open and shut, indicating Walker had left without a reply. He sighed and went up to his room, flopping down on the bed and cursing everything he’d about the day. Maybe if he went to sleep, he would wake up and discover he was living in Groundhog Day. 

Or maybe he would wake up and realize he truly was living in a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the feedback! This fic kind of turned into something I never imagined, so I'm glad people are enjoying it! Can't want to see what you think of this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

** Taylor **

The next few days after his and Zac’s fight at the mall, Taylor gave his little brother a wide berth. He was still extremely upset by what Zac had said to him, though he would never admit it to anyone, and he figured if he just avoided his brother, he could build up his walls again enough that he could pretend he didn’t give a crap what anyone thought about him. Considering he wasn’t in school and didn’t have a job, he spent most of his time cooped up at home, trying not to kill himself from boredom. He tried writing music, but without his guitar, it was hard to take the lyrics he wrote and put them to music. He thought about it and decided he needed to find a music shop somewhere nearby and get a guitar so that he could at least have something to do with his free time. He was so desperate for entertainment that he’d even taken up playing Zac’s video games on the game console in the living room and video games were not his thing.

He tried texting Alex a few times, but most of his attempts were met with one word answers or not even at all. He wanted to deny that he was hurt or upset by it, but if he was being truly honest with himself, he knew he was hurting without the contact - Alex had been a constant in his life for the past couple of years, they saw each other at least three times a week, and in between that, they would text. Well. They wouldn’t have a conversation per say; they would have the text equivalent of phone sex, though Taylor wasn’t very good at it. He got all awkward with the words and what to say and how to say it and didn’t even let himself _feel_ anything because he was too wrapped up in making it sound good for Alex that he was a complete basketcase. 

But Alex seemed to like it, and that was all that mattered, right?

Two weeks in Tulsa felt like a lifetime and he began to wonder when he would ever get out. Walker had gained conservatorship over him (and his money), and with that came a ton of rules. He wasn’t allowed to spend more than $100 a week without his father’s permission, he wasn’t allowed to buy alcohol or drugs (not that he had the hook up for either of them), and he wasn’t allowed to buy himself a new car. He fought, hard, on the car stipulation - He was in the suburbs of a small city in the middle of nowhere, the public transportation system was non-existent, and even if it was, Taylor wouldn’t be caught dead on it, and cabs cost more than he was allowed to spend each week! Having a car was practically a necessity, and Walker finally agreed on the condition that it was a used piece of crap (Taylor’s words, not his father’s), and Taylor steadfastly refused. He would rather kill himself from being stuck inside all day than drive some hung of junk around. 

So that’s what he did. He sat around inside, biding his time until he was given permission by the courts to continue to live his life the way he wanted to. He knew the conservatorship was set to expire on his 18th birthday, but there was also a court date set for a week beforehand to determine if it should be extended past that time or be allowed to expire. Taylor’s attorney had explained everything to him, in way too much detail, to the point that he just wanted to scream. It was his life, how dare someone else decide if he could care for himself or not?! Like it or not, he was stuck for the next six months, at least, and he needed to figure out how to get used to it. 

By the third week, Taylor was rethinking his decision to completely ignore his little brother. He was going mad not having anyone to talk to besides Walker, and he knew he would completely blow it if he was left to his own devices. He started small, asking Zac to play video games with him and it worked out, for the most part - They didn’t really talk much, except to trade insults when the other was being stupid, but the companionship was what Taylor missed the most, he realized. He felt so alone, and being with his little brother helped to ease that ache, even if just a little. 

By the fourth week, Zac was inviting him to play video games and they would spend all of their free time together, battling on whatever stupid game Zac picked. Taylor still hadn’t picked up on the finer points of the games, but he was winning at least one game in ten, so he was counting that as progress. Friday night brought about their normal routine of sitting on the couch and playing games until well into the night when the doorbell rang. That was extremely rare in the Hanson household, if they had visitors, they were well established ahead of time, so Taylor threw a look of confusion at Zac before he got up to answer it. 

His jaw dropped when the door swung open - Alex was standing there, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a sheepish grin on his face. 

“Miss me?” He asked, not taking a step forward. Taylor stood there, frozen, for another second before launching himself as the older man. 

“How did you, what, why, what are you doing here?!” Taylor finally managed to get out, hugging Alex harder than he’d hugged anyone in his life. 

“The phone book had your dad’s address listed, I remembered his name.” Alex dropped his arms from around Taylor and he took that as his cue to pull back from the embrace. He looked Alex up and down, still in disbelief that he was there. 

“But why?” Alex shrugged and looked inside the house over his shoulder, avoiding looking into his eyes. 

“Cause I wanted to.” Taylor took the hint, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it and if he was pushed, they would likely end up in a fight and that was the literal last thing Taylor wanted to deal with, not when he finally had him right in front of him. 

“Well, come in.” He stepped into the house, having to resist the urge to grab Alex’s hand as he followed. They didn’t do that, they weren’t that type of couple - Not that they were even a couple, of course, he had to remind himself, but still, it just wasn’t them. He walked into the living room to see Zac staring intently at the paused game on the screen. “Zac, this is Alex.” 

Zac grunted from his spot on the couch, but didn’t move his head to look at them or otherwise acknowledge Alex’s presence. 

“Uh, do you wanna say hi?” He tried again, trying to prompt Zac into not being such an asshole. 

“Nah.” He said simply as he got up from the couch. He looked Alex up and down once, then twice, before shaking his head and heading up the stairs. A slam of the door a second later told Taylor he’d gone up to his room. 

“Shit, I’m sorry, I don’t know why he’s acting like this. We’ve been getting along really well lately, I don’t get it.” He looked over at Alex and put a hand on his arm comfortingly. 

“It’s whatever. He’s your kid brother, I don’t really care if he likes me or not.” The words stung when they came out of Alex’s mouth, but Taylor wasn’t really sure why. Of course Alex wouldn’t care what a 15 year old kid thought of him, but hearing him say it without care… Rubbed Taylor the wrong way. 

“Uh, right, well… We can go up to my room? Do you have a place to stay?” He walked to the stairs and climbed up them, Alex following. He was keenly aware of how close he was to him, and it took everything in him not to stop where he was and slam Alex against the wall, kissing his breathless. 

“No, I just figured I could crash with you.” Taylor bit his lip as they got to his room, unsure of how to react. He didn’t care if Alex stayed, obviously, but he knew his father would likely be very against the idea. “Or not. Whatever, it’s fine.”

“NO, no, don’t worry, it’s totally cool, my dad should be fine with it.” He lied through his teeth as he opened the door and walked in. He watched Alex as he surveyed the room - It lacked any kind of decoration and was small and unimpressive, and he was suddenly really nervous for Alex’s reaction. Would he realize just how young he was and leave? Finally, after what felt like hours, Alex shrugged and threw his bag to the ground at the end of the bed.   
“Nice digs.” He sat on the bed and smiled up at Taylor. Taylor knew that smile, it was the one Alex have him whenever he wanted sex, and he immediately shut the door, eager to please. Alex lay back on the bed and Taylor crawled up after him, pressing their lips together as soon as he could. He inhaled as he moved on top of Alex, trying to remember his scent and everything about him that he’d forgotten in the month he’d been gone. Alex groaned and thrust his hips up. 

“This isn’t gonna take care of itself, ya know.” Taylor wanted to roll his eyes, to slap Alex, to do something to show he wasn’t just his to use as he pleased, but then he looked into his eyes and melted completely. He was most definitely Alex’s to use as he pleased. 

\--

Three house later, they emerged from Taylor’s bedroom in need of water and food. He’d forgotten just how much being with Alex took out of him, but he wasn’t complaining - He felt so much more whole than he’d felt since he moved to Tulsa. They went downstairs and made their way into the kitchen only to be met with Walker standing at the stove, stirring a pot on the stove. Taylor stopped short, causing Alex to bump into him. 

“Dude, what the fuck?” He said, not seeing Walker. He looked up from the pot and caught Taylor’s eye before looking to Alex. All three of them stood frozen in their spots for what felt like days before Alex broke the ice. “I’m Alex, you must be Walker.” He walked around Taylor and stuck his hand out to him. Walker looked down at his hand, then back up at his face, then over to Taylor. 

“Taylor, what’s going on here?” He wanted to run and hide under his bed, to escape the awkward situation, but he knew it wouldn’t be of any use. He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the floor.

“He’s a friend from LA, he came to visit me.” 

“I gathered that much. What is he doing in my house?”

“He came to visit me.” He said again, feeling smaller than an ant. No matter what he said, no answer would be good enough for his father. 

“That explained a whole lot more the second time around than the first time.” Walker rolled his eyes and looked back to Alex. “You need to leave.” 

“With all due respect, sir, Taylor is legally an adult and can -” Walker cut Alex’s attempt to argue off.

“Get the hell out of my house before I beat your ass so hard you won’t be able to walk for days.” Walker’s voice never rose, it stayed steady and even, but the tone of it was enough to make Taylor cower in fear, and he wasn’t even the one on the receiving end of it. Alex looked like he was going to try to fight, but instead he just rolled his eyes at Walker, smirked, and turned around. 

“I’ll find a hotel somewhere nearby and talk to you tomorrow, Tay.” Alex walked past him and paused, leaning in and pressing a quick, dirty kiss to his lips, no doubtedly playing it up for their audience. Taylor stood stock still, listening as Alex went up stairs, got his bag, and left. 

“What the hell is wrong with you? Wasn’t that the kid you were with when you almost died?!” Walker gestured wildly around himself, looking less composed than Taylor had ever seen him.

“He’s not a kid.” He mumbled as an answer, purposely avoiding the rest of the question. 

“I DON’T CARE IF HE’S OLDER THAN ME, JORDAN TAYLOR HANSON!” Walker’s face grew red as he started shouting. “He almost got you killed and you have the audacity to invite him into my house?” Taylor just hung his head and clenched his eyes shut. He wasn’t used to being held accountable for his actions, and he definitely wasn’t used to being yelled at. “ANSWER ME!” Walker bellowed, stepping into Taylor’s personal space to the point that he would have felt awkward not looking up. 

“Yes. I was with him when that… Happened.” He still had a hard time even admitting he’d done something as stupid as ODing, and he sure wasn’t going to admit it to the person he detested most in the world. 

“Get out of my face. I don’t want to see you or hear you or catch a whiff of you right now. You really are as stupid as you look, aren’t you?” A burning sensation pricked the back of Taylor’s eyes and he had to blink a few times to make it go away- He was not going to cry. “WELL?!” Walker pointed up the stairs in the direction of Taylor’s room and he turned around and fled, feeling every bit the little kid his father obviously saw him as.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't wait to see your thoughts.
> 
> ALSO. Walker is THE BEST character in this story!


	6. Chapter 6

** Zac **

Zac didn’t like Alex. Zac didn’t like Alex, not one little bit, and he didn’t care that he didn’t even have a good reason for it. Sure, he almost got Taylor killed, but just the stupid look on his face when he walked into the house, looking like he owned the place, made Zac want to punch him and then drown him in a sink of dirty dish water. He’d fled the room before he could act on any of his impulses as killing his brother’s friend wouldn’t bode well for their tentative truce of a relationship. He buried himself in his room for the rest of the day, smirking a little when he heard the fight between Alex, Taylor, and their dad. If he was lucky, he would never have to see Alex again.

The next morning proved, however, how unlucky he was. It was a Saturday morning, Zac’s favorite since he didn’t have school or basketball practice, and Walker was at work, so he was looking forward to playing video games all day long. He ate a bowl of cereal and got the game all setup before trudging back up the stairs to see if Taylor wanted to join him. It was almost eleven and even Taylor didn’t typically sleep that late, so surely he was awake. He knocked on the closed bedroom door before grasping the handle and turning it, pushing the door open. 

“Hey Tay, I just wanted to see if -” He cut himself off as he took in the sight on the bed in front of him. Taylor was bent over the side of the bed, his ass sticking out in the air, naked, with Alex behind him, doing… “OH MY GOD!” He turned more red than he’d ever turned in his life before turning and running from the room. He ran to his bedroom and slammed the door, locking it before sitting on his bed. He drew his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them before pressing his face into them. He’d just walked in on his brother having sex. With another guy. Being… Being _fucked_ by another guy! And not just any guy, but Alex, his fucking rock star not boyfriend, or maybe he was his boyfriend, it didn’t even matter because HE had walked in on HIS BROTHER having SEX and he was freaking out. 

He hadn’t even heard Alex come in! Why was he even there, he’d heard exactly what Walker had told him the previous night, he wasn’t invited back into their house, but he still waltzed back in, probably with that same stupid look on his face. His anger grew, replacing his embarrassment, as he thought about the whole situation. Taylor was going against the wishes of their father when he was already on thin ice, and for what reason? To get off? To show Walker that he wasn’t scared of him? Walker wasn’t even there to walk in on them, so that didn’t even seem to make sense. Maybe Taylor was just a complete idiot? Because Zac couldn’t think of another _fucking_ reason he would do something so stupid! A knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts and he whipped his head up, glaring at the door as though he could vaporize whoever was on the other side. 

“Zac, it’s me. Can I come in?”

“Fuck off, Taylor.” He called out, clenching his hands into fists as his anger grew. 

“Zac, come on, can you please just talk to me?” Zac got up from his bed and to the door, unlocking it before opening it only just enough so that he could stick his head through. 

“I don’t want to talk to you right now, just leave me alone.” 

“I just want to explain -”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to hear it. Alex is probably waiting for you, it sure looked like I was interrupting something awesome for him.” He didn’t even know where the words coming out of his mouth came from, but he didn’t care - Taylor deserved every ounce of rage he felt. 

“Zac, that’s not fair.” Taylor put a hand on the door and tried to push it open, to force himself into Zac’s room, but he held the door tight, not letting it move. 

“You don’t even know the meaning of fair, you stupid spoiled brat rock star _asshole_. Leave me the fuck alone!” Zac wished he could take the words back as soon as he said them, the look on Taylor’s face showing just how much he’d hurt him with them. 

“Fine.” Taylor said through gritted teeth before turning around and walking back into his room. Zac listened for the door slam before responding with one of his own. He lay back down on his bed and looked at the ceiling, his brain more confused than before. Why was he even so angry in the first place? Sure, Alex was a complete jerk, but still, Taylor could do whatever he wanted to do and suffer the consequences, right? Zac didn’t need to punish himself with all of the resentment flowing through his body, but he didn’t know how to stop it. It was almost like he was…

Jealous. He was jealous. But… Why? Why would he be jealous of Alex spending time with Taylor? Not just spending time with him, but doing… That to him. It didn’t make sense and he didn’t like how it made him feel, but he didn’t know how to stop it. The sight of seeing Alex pounding into Taylor ran over and over and over in his brain until he thought he was going to be sick. He started sweating as his emotions got the better of him and he decided to take a shower, he always felt better after a shower. He grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathroom, glad not to run into anyone in the short journey. He turned the water on as hot as he could stand it and stripped naked before stepping into the almost boiling stream. He knew he should ease into it, but the pain was enough to pull him back into the present, into himself, to stop overthinking so damn much. 

He closed his eyes as he stuck his head under the stream and let the water cascade around him. He still saw the images of Alex and Taylor behind his eyes, but this time, instead of feeling sick, he started feeling… More curious. He allowed himself to look at his brother more in his memory, he looked shocked to have been caught, but he still looked… Beautiful. Zac groaned as his body started to respond to his thoughts, no way was he getting turned on my thoughts of his brother! He shifted his focus to Alex, looking at him as he stood behind Taylor, looking every bit as cocky as he had the previous day. His black hair was wild and falling into his eyes, indicating they’d already been going at it for a little while before they’d been interrupted. Alex wasn’t bad looking, not even a little actually, but Zac’s focus kept drifting back to Taylor and his dick twitched as he looked into Taylor’s eyes, getting lost in them in a way that had never happened before.

His hand was around himself before he even realized what was happening and he gasped, then moaned as he pumped his hand. He let the image of his brother morph in his mind, instead of looking shocked, he looked suddenly euphoric and threw his head back, a loud groan falling from his lips. Taylor reached between himself and the bed and grasped his own dick, his moans growing louder as he worked himself over. Zac mimicked his movements, matching his pace to Taylor’s, until they both came at the same time. Taylor’s name fell out of Zac’s mouth before he opened his eyes in horror. What had he just done? 

Alex was leaning against the wall in the hallway when Zac emerged from the bathroom. He stopped, completely not expecting to run into anyone. Alex had that same _goddamn_ smirk on his face and he wanted to lunge at him and tackle him to the ground so he could punch it off of him. 

“Can I help you?” He asked cooly as he regained his composure. Alex took a step forward, then another, causing Zac to step back until his body hit the wall. He maintained eye contact with Alex, refusing to show how intimidated he actually felt. 

“You sounded like you were having a good time in there.” Alex said, placing a hand on the wall next to Zac, effectively caging him in. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He hissed, trying to move away from the other man. Alex simply smiled bigger and Zac felt his stomach drop. 

“You were jerking off, I’m not dumb. I was a 15 year old boy once, ya know. I’m no stranger to getting off in the shower.” Fear crept into him as he thought about the fact that he had actually moaned a name, his brothers name, while in there. Did Alex hear that too? Instead of answering him, he shoulder checked him and fled to his room, slamming it and locking it behind him, just in case he was followed. 

\--

The next few hours dragged by since Zac had locked himself in his room and he had basically no form of entertainment. He didn’t care for a while, anything was worth not chancing running into Alex or Taylor, but finally his bladder was so full that he had no choice but to leave his room to use the bathroom. He stuck his head outside of his room and looked both ways down the hall, glad to see it empty. He practically tiptoed to the bathroom and opened the door, stepping inside before he realized someone was already in there. 

Alex’s head jerked up from the counter, one finger to his nostril as he looked dumbly at Zac. They looked at each other in silence for a solid minute before Alex looked back down at the line on the counter, leaned down, and snorted it. Zac stepped all the way into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, not wanting Taylor to see what it was his boyfriend was doing. 

“Are you kidding me?!” He threw his hands up in the air before crossing his arms across his chest. Alex just shrugged and smiled at him. 

“I know mommy and daddy have spent your whole life preaching that drugs are the devil, but they’re pretty amazing, if you do them right.” Zac shook his head in disagreement. 

“The only thing I care about when it comes to what you’re doing is that _that_ ,” he pointed at the counter where the little baggie of white powder still laid. “That almost killed my older brother, and I will be damned if you bring that shit into his life again!” Alex closed the gap between then, crowding Zac against the wall, and leaned down into his face. 

“You know what I think? I think you’re just jealous that I’ve had your brother and you haven’t.” Za’s throat felt like it closed and he it took everything in him not to throw up. “You think I didn’t hear you earlier, but I did.” Alex brought his hand to Zac’s cheek, caressing under his eye before moving it down to his arm, then down to his hip. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. Taylor is hot and he’s a great fuck. He’s a bit boring, but that’s easily overlooked.” 

“Stop.” Zac tried to protest, to get Alex to shut up, but he just kept talking as his took both of his hands and moved them to Zac’s butt, grabbing it hard and pulling it so that his hips were flush with his own. 

“You like that? You ever been with another guy before, Zac? I could show you, make it real nice and special for you. I’ll take it slow, make you feel so good.” Tears formed in Zac’s eyes, but he refused to let them fall, to show Alex how much he was getting to him. “Don’t be shy, I know you want this.” He thrust his hips into Zac’s and he felt how hard he was under his pants. He tried to pull away, he had never felt more uncomfortable in his life, and he couldn’t help but admit that he was also scared on top of it all. Was Alex going to force him to do something? The tears finally fell down his face as Alex leaned down and kissed him on the neck, sucking on the tender skin. 

The bathroom door flew open and Alex jumped away from Zac as Taylor looked between the two of them. Zac slid down the wall to the floor, bringing his knees to his chest, trying to get as far from Alex as he could as the tears fell faster down his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. I need feelings on this. This was my favorite chapter to write and I'm not above begging for feedback ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last update before Hanson day!!! Hope you enjoy it <3

** Taylor **

Being walked in on while having sex was not a new thing for Taylor, but being walking in on by his little brother was. He really thought he locked the door, but he’d had to sneak Alex inside and then his lips were all over his neck and he was pushing Taylor’s pants off and really maybe he didn’t even touch the lock like he thought he did, he was too caught up in everything _Alex_. The look on Zac’s face was almost funny, he wanted to laugh when he opened the door and saw them, but then he was also mortified and wanted to drown himself in the tub to save himself ever having to talk to his little brother ever again.

The talk with Zac went… Well, actually better than he had expected it to go. He really thought that they were going to end up screaming at each other at some point because it was a pretty big deal, he knew Zac already hated Alex, and a small part of him assumed they’d end up in a fist fight. Sure, being called a spoiled brat didn’t feel good at all, but at least he wasn’t telling him he’d have been better off dead again. 

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur, he and Alex stayed in his room, making use of what little time they had left until Walker got home and Alex needed to leave. At some point, Alex left the room, presumably to use the bathroom, and Taylor didn’t even really notice until it had felt like a really long time and he looked at the clock - Alex had been gone for over 20 minutes. Where could he even be to have spent over 20 minutes alone? He pulled himself out of the bed and left the room, looking down the hallway in each direction. A quick search of the kitchen and living room didn’t turn him up either, and he was about to give up and go back to his room, thinking Alex had just left without telling him (wouldn’t be the first time), when he walked past the bathroom and heard a voice speaking softly. 

Alex’s voice. 

He stopped in his tracks and pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear what he was saying through it, was he on his phone? He kept trying to hear for another minute before he just gave up and opened the door. 

The sight of Alex pressed up against Zac was one he wouldn’t forget for the rest of his life. He had heard rumors about Alex’s promiscuity, but hey, they weren’t exclusive and it didn’t matter. It was fine, whatever Alex did on his own time was his own business. Except for this, because this was _not_ his own time and if the look on Zac’s face was any indication, his advances were none too welcome.

“What’s going on?” He asked meekly, his voice coming out sounding a lot less sure of himself than he wanted it to. Alex just shrugged and smiled at him. 

“Oh, nothing much, your little brother was just curious about me.” Taylor felt like throwing up, he wanted so badly to believe the words he spoke, but the scene in front of him told him a much different story. 

“Are you sure that’s the road you want to go down?” He tried to steel his voice, to make himself sound more intimidating that he felt, and the smirk on Alex’ face showed he hadn’t succeeded.

“It’s just the truth, baby.” Alex walked to him and place his hands on his hips, lowering his voice. “I think he’s just a little bit confused, I offered to show him how it’s done so that maybe he wouldn’t be so confused anymore.” Taylor clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath before opening them again. He moved his eyes down to his little brother who was looking up at him, fear mixed with frustration and anger in his stare. 

“I don’t believe you.” In all the years Taylor had known Alex, he had never dared to contradict him, but seeing the truth written all over Zac’s face was enough to show him what actually happened. Alex dropped his hands from his hips and took a step back, the smirk falling off of his face. 

“What is your problem? I didn’t do anything he didn’t want me to do.” Taylor followed him further into the bathroom, positioning himself between Alex and Zac. 

“Oh yeah? Well the look on his face says otherwise. You’re 20 years old Alex, hitting on my little brother! Do you not see how gross that is? And what a jerk that makes you?” Alex rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“Oh for fuck sake, are you seriously going to start lecturing me here? I don’t seem to remember you being so upset when you were the 15 year old.” 

“THAT’S WHY I KNOW IT’S WRONG!” Taylor’s voice came out in a yell, shocking even him, and definitely Alex as he jumped back, hitting his legs against the counter. “You did the same exact same thing to me, Alex, I know what it looks like, and I know what it feels like.” 

“Oh my god, seriously, you’re gonna play the victim card here? That’s too rich, you really are something else.” Alex dropped his arms and stepped into Taylor’s personal space, pressing into him until they were almost nose to nose. “You never said no, Taylor, just remember that.” 

Before he realized what he was doing, Taylor had balled up his fists and planted one in Alex’s stomach and the other in his groin. Alex groaned and sank to the floor, clutching his abdomen. “No doesn’t mean yes, you complete asshole!” He brought a foot back and kicked Alex in the stomach once and was going back for another when he felt a hand on his other leg. He looked down and Zac was looking up at him, eyes pleading with him to stop. He let his leg drop and looked down at Alex. “I want you the fuck out of my house and I never want to see you ever again.” 

He turned so that his back was to Alex and reached down to Zac, who grabbed his hand and let himself be helped up off of the floor. Zac took one more terrified glance down at the man on the ground and booked it out of the bathroom. Taylor wanted to go after him, he knew he needed to talk to him, but he also needed to make sure Alex left the house.

“You have less than three minutes to get out of here or I’ll beat the crap out of you.” Alex groaned as he sat up, clutching his stomach. He wiped a hand over his face and groaned again before standing up. His ever present smirk was back on his face and he leaned into Taylor, getting too close for comfort. 

“You’re gonna regret this. You thought you were such hot shit before, just wait. When you come back, you’re nobody.” Taylor simply took a step back and then to the side, pointing out the door. 

“Get. Out. Now.” Alex just rolled his eyes and strode out past him and down the stairs. The door slamming a few seconds later told him that he was gone. He took a deep breath, finally allowing himself time to react and think about what had happened and before he realized it, tears were flooding his eyes. Zac had looked so scared and so… Not okay with what was happening to him, and god, what if he hadn’t walked in when he did? What if Alex had…

He had to cut himself off from his line of thinking because the idea of what could have happened was too much for him to bear. He knew Alex, he knew what he was like, and when he wanted something, he got it. Zac wouldn’t have made it out of the bathroom without Alex getting what it was he was after. The idea made him shudder in horror and saliva flooded his mouth. He rushed to the toilet and knelt in front of it just in time to throw up. Tears ran down his face as he threw up until finally he was able to take a breath without gagging.

When he was finally convinced he was done, he put the seat down and flushed before sitting on the closed lid. He looked on the counter and dread filled his stomach - Alex’s vial of cocaine was still there. A longing he hadn’t felt in a long time filled his head and he just stared at the vial, trying to talk himself out of taking the drugs. Why shouldn’t he, though, honestly? He had invited Alex into the house, had had sex with him multiple times, had gone against his father’s wishes, and almost gotten Zac… 

Taylor reached for the vial, but footsteps in the hallway made him drop his arm. He looked at the doorway and Zac appeared, looking incredibly shaken up. “Hey, you okay?” He almost punched himself in the face for asking that, of course Zac wasn’t okay, what the hell was he thinking? Zac just shrugged. 

“I guess. It’s fine, really, it’s not a big deal. I’m just really glad you came in when you did.” Taylor looked down at his hands and frowned, guilt flooding through him. 

“I’m sorry I let him into the house, it’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have…” He trailed off, looking back up at Zac and then over at the cocaine on the counter. 

“Don’t do it.” Zac said in a low voice. Taylor didn’t turn to look at him, keeping his eyes trained on the vial, but he heard him take a couple of steps inside of the bathroom. Taylor finally broke his stare with the vial and looked up at his brother, surprised when he found him standing right next to him. He hadn’t realized he’d gotten that close. 

“I just feel like such a failure. Dad was right when he called me a loser, all I do I fuck everything up, why not fuck it up even more, right?” He reached for the drugs, but stopped when Zac’s hand landed on top of his, pinning it to the counter. 

“I don’t think you’re a loser.” Zac curled his fingers around Taylor’s hand and squeezed. “Please don’t give up on yourself.” Taylor looked up at him and was a bit shocked to see the compassion in his eyes. He knew they’d been getting along a lot better the past month, but he hadn’t really realized just how much their relationship had grown. 

“Living is so hard.” He murmured as a lump formed in his throat. He swallowed a few times, hoping he wouldn’t start crying again. “I just, I don’t know what to do, or how to do it. You were right, calling me a spoiled little rich rock star. I don’t know how to be normal. I don’t even know how to be a kid!” Tears filled his eyes yet again and he cursed under his breath, using his free hand to wipe angrily at his eyes. 

“I could show you, if you want.” Zac moved their hands so that they were hanging in the air and not resting on the counter and squeezed it again. “I’ve kinda got being a kid down pat.” Taylor couldn’t help but crack a smile at the comment and realized just how much happier he’d been since he and Zac had been hanging out. 

“You’d do that for me?” 

Zac shrugged and smiled. 

“I guess so. Someone has to take pity on you.” 

Taylor laughed through his tears and stood up, returning the hand squeeze. 

“Thanks, Zac. Are you really okay?” 

He shrugged again, but nodded.

“I’ll be okay. Thanks for standing up for me. You didn’t have to do that, I know how hard it must have been.” It was Taylor’s turn to shrug. 

“Yeah, I guess. All I can say is that Alex had it coming.” Zac dropped his hand and disappointment surged through his belly. Before he could decide against it, he threw his arms around Zac’s shoulder’s and squeezed him to his chest. “I’m glad I have you with me.” Zac stood there for a second, still as a statue, before bringing his arms around Taylor and embracing him just as tightly. 

“I’m glad you’re here, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh how do you guys feel?! LET ME KNOW!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

** Zac **

Life after Alex was… Different. Zac had offered to cover for Taylor with their dad and not tell him that Taylor had gone against his orders, but Taylor had been a bit of a martyr (or was just growing up) and went to Walker, admitting to everything that had happened. He even mentioned the part about Alex coming on to Zac and had taken every ounce of anger Walker had thrown at him. Zac had to say he was a bit impressed, he was actually afraid just from listening to the yelling, but Taylor had taken it like a champ.

Walker had also decided to ground Taylor for two weeks, absolutely no electronics, no car, nothing. He could go outside or stay in his room, but that was about it. Zac felt kind of bad for him, two weeks was a long time, just the idea made Zac shudder in horror at the idea of such a long confinement. Taylor obviously felt the same as he had taken to coming outside once Zac was home from school and watching him practice his free throws or whatever else he needed to practice that day. The first few days of being watched were nerve wracking and he had reverted back to being as awful a player as he was when he was 10, but finally he got used to the extra set of eyes that _never seemed to leave him_ and possibly even started improving. Was Zac showing off? No, of course not. What would he have to be showing off for? 

By the time Friday evening rolled around, Zac was tired and all he wanted to do was play video games all night, but he’d soon realized that it was rather boring to play by himself ever since he’d gotten used to playing with Taylor at his side, so he simply changed into shorts and his basketball sneakers and went to the driveway to practice his layups. Taylor was already sitting in a lawn chair on the driveway, leaning back to enjoy the sun on his face. Zac just stared at his brother, captivated by the way the sunlight his his cheekbones and made him almost look like an angel. He got so caught up in looking that he didn’t realize he had dribbled the ball in front of him until he tripped and stumbled forward a few steps, almost landing in a heap on the ground. Once he managed to right himself, he stood up straight and put an embarrassed grin on his face. 

“I meant to do that.” His face was hot and he knew he was bright red, but it didn’t even matter because a genuine smile broke out over Taylor’s face as he started laughing. Zac would do anything to keep that smile there. 

“Oh yeah, I’m sure you did, dude.” Taylor got up from the chair and held his hands out. Zac gave him a confused look and held up the ball. “Yes, I want the ball.” 

“Uh, you don’t even play anymore, Tay.” He threw the ball to his older brother regardless of the statement and let his jaw hang open as Taylor turned around and shot a perfect free throw. “I guess that doesn’t really matter though.” Taylor just smiled and threw the ball up at the basket, making the perfect shot, nothing but net.

Jealousy started to boil in the pit of his stomach as Taylor sank shot after shot - He hadn’t played in _years_ , how could he still have such perfect form and be so good? Zac raced out after the ball after it went perfectly into the basket and snatched it up, not eager to see more of Taylor being a basketball god. 

“Oh come on, I was just getting back into the groove!” 

“Yeah well I actually have to practice, I have a game tomorrow and coach said if I come to practice with perfect layups tomorrow, I might be able to start.” He dribbled the ball once, then twice, before trying to do a layup. 

And failing. He cursed under his breath and grabbed the ball, dribbling a couple more times before trying again. Another miss. 

“Uh, do you mind if I give you a suggestion?” Taylor’s voice was unexpected, he never really talked when they were outside and Zac was practicing, but he paused and looked back at his brother. 

“Advice from you? Dude, you haven’t played in years, sorry if I don’t really think you’re on the up and up with the right form.” He turned back to the basket and decided to try a regular free throw, maybe if he made one, it would cause his streak to end. 

Off the backboard and to the ground, didn’t even touch the rim. 

“You’re putting too much force into the ball with your arms, you need to use your legs more.” Zac whirled around, a growl low in the back of his throat.

“I know what I’m doing!” He threw the ball at Taylor, hoping to catch him off guard, but he caught it with ease as though he had been expecting it. He tossed it back and forth between his hands before taking a few steps back and lining his the ball up with the basket. “Oh there’s no way you can make that, half the guys on my squad can make that shot and they’ve been playing since they were kids!” Taylor’s smirk grew even wider and he turned around, walked to the end of the driveway, and turned back around, squaring his hips and shoulders. Zac just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’ll never make it.” 

The second the ball left Taylor’s hands, Zac knew it was going to hit the backboard perfectly and fall into the net. He wasn’t good at the game, but he was good at calling the shots and dammit if Taylor’s asinine shot was gonna make it. He wanted to turn around and stomp into the house, throw a full out temper tantrum because his brother was just a total asshole, but instead he just watched with envy and dread as the ball sailed through the air, hitting the backboard in the corner of the painted square perfectly before falling into the hoop. 

“I shoulda bet you money on that shot.” Taylor swaggered (yes, actually swaggered) up the driveway and stood in front of Zac, hands on his hips, looking every bit as cocky as he liked to look when standing on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans. 

“Whatever. That was all luck.” Zac glared at him before turning and retrieving the ball from where it had rolled into the grass. 

“Oh now was it? If that’s the case, do you want me to try to make another one? I can show you just how lucky I can be.” 

Zac felt like screaming, he wanted to rip Taylor’s head off of his body, he was being such a jerk, but at the same time, he felt… Some kind of pull in his stomach at the way Taylor was laughing and joking around, and it stopped him from actually trying to hurt his brother. 

“How about this? Let’s play a game of one on one, really quick, first to three points wins. If I win, you leave me alone to practice and stop being such a show off jerk.” Zac passed the ball to Taylor and gave him a challenging look. 

“And if I win?” Taylor cocked an eyebrow, an amused expression taking over his face. Zac shrugged.

“I’ll let you figure that out. Not that you need to worry about it, since you’re not gonna win.” 

Taylor bounced the ball once and Zac took position in front of him, hell bent on making sure he didn’t make a basket. Taylor feigned left and went right, leaving Zac scrambling after him. He made a perfect layup and Zac felt anger building inside of him again. He took the ball and went to the middle of the driveway. Taylor took his place in front of him and as soon as Zac took a step and dribbled, Taylor swiped the ball away from him, turned, and made a basket, nothing but net. The game was over in less than three minutes and Zac wanted to kill himself. Or Taylor. Or both of them.

“Should I have taken it a little easier on you, baby brother?” Taylor laughed as he sat back down in the lawn chair he’d abandoned. 

“Why do you have to be such an asshole?” Zac spat out. He grabbed the basketball and threw it at Taylor as hard as he could, causing Taylor to flinch out of the way and fall out of his chair. The action made Zac laugh, though he still felt like crying from the unfairness of it all. Taylor hopped to his feet, his face turning red with a sour look on his face.

“What’s your fucking problem, dude? Just because you suck at basketball means you have to take it out on me!” Zac didn’t even think before he lept at Taylor and tackled him to the ground, a loud _ooof_ coming from Taylor as his back hit the concrete. 

“Screw you!” He yelled as he punched Taylor in the stomach. “You act like you’re hot shit, but at least I have a normal life!” Taylor managed to catch his fist before he hit him again and shifted his weight so that Zac fell off of him. Taylor climbed on top of him and pinned him down by his wrists, looking down into his face. 

“I act like hot shit because I _am_ hot shit, Zac. You gotta act the way you want others to see you. You see yourself as a loser, so others see you that way too!” Zac growled and bucked his hips up, trying to get Taylor off of him, but he was sitting on top of him almost like a dead weight and the only thing Zac felt was friction.

Good friction. 

Zac stopped moving as he felt his dick harden in his pants, horror filling his body. He was sure the look on his face mirrored it as well considering that Taylor was looking at him even more confused than he’d looked before. “Are you…?” Taylor trailed off with a questioning tone to his voice and Zac wanted to melt into the earth and die. 

“GET OFF OF ME!” Zac screamed as he yanked his wrists free. He must’ve caught Taylor off guard because he was able to pull free and push his brother off of him. He got to his feet and without looking back, ran into the house. The door slammed behind him and he could swear he heard Walker yell something at him, but he didn’t stop to listen. He slammed and locked the door to his room and leaned his back against it, chest heaving from the exertion. What was wrong with him? Getting turned on because his freaking _brother_ was on top of him? Was he… 

Gay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments on the last two chapters, can't wait to see your thoughts on this one!!! Also... Hanson Day was amazing. But holy god it was rough, I'm STILL recovering. Why am I so old?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

** Taylor **

The altercation with Zac was confusing at best but mostly it was just… Weird. Weird was such a lame word for something that had happened, but how else could he explain it? Zac got a freaking boner while Taylor was on top of him! Who did that happen to? Certainly not any siblings Taylor knew of, and the last time he’d checked, Zac wasn’t even gay anyway! He picked up everything from the driveway and made his way inside, wanting to talk to Zac about what had happened. Zac was 15 years old, hormones were raging, chances were that any kind of friction would be enough to set him off. Taylor almost laughed remembering what he was like at 15, just a simple look from Alex at the right time could send him to the bathroom to rub one out.

He walked to Zac’s door and raised a hand to knock, but paused when he heard sounds from behind it. Was he on the phone? Did he call a friend to freak out about what had happened? Against his better judgement, Taylor pressed his ear to the door to listen. A low moan sounded from the room and Taylor’s jaw dropped. Was Zac… No way. There was no way he was jerking off, right? Because that would mean he was jerking off to the thoughts of him and what had happened between them! He knew he should knock, should interrupt what was going on so that they could talk and just get everything over with, but the growing tightness in his pants alerted him to the fact that he, too, was getting hard from listening to Zac take care of his own problem. 

Taylor mentally cursed himself and pressed the heel of his hand to his dick, trying to make it go down. His ear was still pressed to the door and the moans were getting louder, indicating Zac was getting closer to getting off. He pressed harder into his dick, but nothing helped. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, dick hard, listening to his little brother masturbate. What else could happen? 

“ _Tay._ ” Zac’s voice echoed in his ears. Did he know Taylor was listening? He couldn’t, Taylor hadn’t even made a sound! “ _Taylor!_!” Zac’s voice grew louder and he could hear practically hear him panting behind the door. A low, continuous groan finally sounded, it had to be Zac finishing. Taylor jerked away from the door, looking at it in horror before turning and fleeing to his room, closing the door quietly so that Zac wouldn’t know he had been listening. He sat on his bed and tried to think about the situation in a rational way, but the aching in his dick wouldn’t let him concentrate on anything else. He finally gave in and lay on his back, unzipping his jeans and shoving his hand inside. 

He pulled on his dick a few times, trying to picture Alex, but the idea made him more mad than turned on considering the circumstances. Besides, no matter what he tried to do, Zac’s face just kept filling his mind. He pictured him pinned underneath him on the driveway, not even 30 minutes previous, and how he felt beneath him, squirming and getting excited. He groaned without meaning to and jerked harder, finally giving in to the direction his mind wanted to go - He could deal with the consequences later. 

\--

Zac avoided Taylor like he had the plague for the next week. Taylor tried to force him to talk, intentionally putting himself in Zac’s way or playing video games when he knew he would be wanting to play them, too. No matter what he did, Zac just avoided his eyes and walked away. Taylor was growing frustrated, more frustrated than he wanted to be honestly, because really, the more he thought about it, the less of an issue what had happened between them was. Sure, maybe it was weird that Zac had moaned his name, but Taylor just couldn’t bring himself to judge his brother. Being a teenager had enough issues, why pile more on?

Taylor decided enough was enough the next Friday night - Zac’s team had won their second game in a row and he’d even started, so it was a huge deal for him, but when he came home, he just went straight to his room without looking at Taylor sitting on the couch in the living room. Anger took over and he got up, chasing after him. Zac had already closed his door by the time he got to the hallway, but Taylor didn’t care - He simply turned the handle and pushed it open, letting it bang against the wall. 

“What the hell!” Zac jumped away from his closet, bringing the shirt in his hand up to his bare chest to cover it. “Didn’t you ever learn to knock?” 

Taylor snorted. “What, like you knocked before walking in on me and Alex fucking?”

Zac’s face turned bright red and Taylor had to hold in a laugh - The last thing he wanted to do was piss him off so much that he shut down completely. 

“It was an accident.” Zac mumbled, though Taylor was pretty sure he saw a hint of a smile flit across his face. “Do you need something?” He pulled on the shirt he was holding and Taylor couldn’t help but watch him, eyes catching on the trail of hair on his stomach leading into his basketball shorts. 

“Uh, what? Oh, uh yeah.” He shook his head and looked up at Zac, surprised to see how soft the expression on his face was. He’d grown so used to Zac barely looking at him or just looking at him expressionless that seeing an actual emotion on his face caught him by surprise. “Look, can we talk?” 

“Can it wait? I’m exhausted, today was a really long day.” Zac walked to his bed and sat down, crossing his legs under him. Taylor shook his head and followed, sitting down next to him. He didn’t miss how Zac scooted away from him to leave more room between them, but he didn’t say anything. 

“It really can’t, it’s been put off too long. I feel like it we don’t talk now, we never will and then we’ll just go the rest of our lives without talking ever again.” He glanced over at Zac and was again shocked to see him smiling, actually smiling! 

“You’re such a drama queen.” He leaned back against his headboard and pulled on the sheets. Taylor shifted so that he could pull them up and then settled back in. 

“Yeah, maybe, but it’s part of my charm.” 

Zac’s face turned a little red again, but he simply shook his head. “If you wanna talk, talk. I’m not starting this train wreck.” Taylor nodded and took a deep breath. 

“Look. I just want to get over whatever happened between us. Like, okay it was weird, but honestly Zac, I remember being 15, and I know shit’s confusing and I don’t want you to avoid me for the rest of your life because of one incident.” 

“Oh my god, can we please just not talk about it and forget it happened?” Zac let his head drop into his hands, looking like he wanted to disappear into a black hole. 

“Zac, come on.” Taylor reached out and placed a hand on where he thought his knee would be underneath of the sheets and gave it a squeeze. “If we ignore it, it’ll just be that weird thing that happened lingering in the background that will always be there, a huge elephant in the room if you will.” Zac let his hands drop to his lap as he looked up at Taylor. 

“Do you think I’m disgusting?” He whispered, his fears written all over his face. 

“Are you serious?” Taylor moved around on the bed so that he was sitting next to his brother and leaned his shoulder against his. “Zac, it happens. LIke, at the most inconvenient times. No, I don’t think you’re disgusting, I just think you’re hormonal.” Zac looked over at him for a second before looking down at his hands. 

“But what if…” He trailed off, biting his lip. “What if I told you that I liked it because it was you?” 

It was hard to shock Taylor - He’d lived in LA for four years and toured with some of the biggest names in music, the things he had seen and heard were enough to make a grown man blush so hard his great grandkids could feel it, but hearing those words come out of his brothers mouth left him absolutely speechless. He tried to think of something to say, anything to say to make the silence hovering around them disappear, but he was at a loss. The thing that probably shocked him the most, though, was that no part of him was disgusted by Zac’s admission. Hell, maybe it shouldn’t have shocked him that he was fine with it considering he’d jerked off to Zac jerking off to HIM!

He tried to figure out what to say because he knew the longer he was silent, the more likely it was that Zac would freak out, but no words came to mind that would be at all helpful. He just stayed sitting in his spot, shoulder leaning against Zac, hoping that the admission wouldn’t change anything between them. 

“You do think I’m disgusting.” Zac said softly. Taylor looked over at him and saw tears well up in his eyes while he bit his lip and he felt his heart breaking. He didn’t want to be the person responsible for making his brother feel that way, especially when there was no reason to. 

“Zac, no, I don’t.” He turned his body so that he was facing Zac and tried to get him to look up at him. “Zac, please, look at me?” It took a second, but Zac finally looked up into Taylor’s eyes, reluctance and self-hatred written all over his face. 

“Please don’t hate me.” Zac’s lower lip trembled as tear slid down his face. Taylor reached up and cupped Zac’s cheek with one hand, wiping the tears away with his thumb. 

“I don’t hate you, Zac. I could never hate you.” Before Taylor could even think about what he was doing, he leaned in and pressed his lips softly to Zac’s, hoping that his touch would ease any of the pain that he felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH I've been waiting to post this one because it's one of my favorites and I feel like I'm super worried how everyone is going to react so let me know your thoughts!!!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

** Zac **

The feeling of Taylor’s lips on his was mind blowing. He knew he was only 15 and probably stupid for acting like something as simple as a kiss could change the course of his life forever, but that’s exactly how it felt. Taylor’s lips were soft and smooth under his, moving with much more practice than Zac had, but he tried to push that thought out of his head - He didn’t want to ruin the moment. He knew it would be a one time thing, who actually sets out to kiss their brother and mean something with it, right? He let his eyes slip closed and brought his hands up to Taylor’s shoulders, clutching him as though he would float away without him.

Taylor maneuvered them so that they were laying down, Zac on his back on the bed and Taylor on top of him. Zac took no time at all in spreading his legs so that Taylor could lay between them and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, trying to close any distance between them. Taylor didn’t show any sign of pulling away or ending things, and Zac wasn’t going to make him - No, he had spent the past few weeks fantasizing about that exact moment and since it had become reality, he was going to hang on to it until his older brother came to his senses and stopped what they were doing. 

Taylor’s lips broke from his and he braced himself for the end of it, but he simply moved his lips down to Zac’s neck and started nipping at the skin then sucking on it. Zac let out a small moan, he’d never done much of anything with anyone, so he didn’t know what he liked, but apparently his neck was super sensitive and he liked everything that Taylor was doing to him. Taylor bit down a little harder than he had been and Zac thrust his hips up at the same time a loud moan came out of his mouth. He heard Taylor gasp above him before feeling his hips grind down to meet his. Taylor was just as hard as he was and Zac could barely believe it - He was actually enjoying himself? 

“Zac, oh god.” Taylor moaned before crashing his lips back down on Zac’s. Taylor opened his mouth and Zac swept his tongue inside, aching to feel every single inch of his brother that he could. Taylor wound one hand around to the back of Zac’s neck and pulled him as tight as he could. Zac grasped at his back, digging his fingers into his shirt. He’d never been so turned on in his life and even though they’d just started, he already felt like he was ready to blow. 

“Tay, I’m gonna…” He trailed off as he groaned, his hips thrusting up to meet Taylor’s without any kind of rhythm. 

“Me too.” Taylor managed to get out as he used his free hand and reached between then, cupping Zac through his pants. Zac gasped and threw his head back, thrusting into Taylor’s touch. Less than a minute later, Zac came in his pants, eyes clouding over as he felt pleasure greater than he’d ever felt before. He went limp on the bed, trying to catch his breath. He heard rustling above him and opened his eyes - The sight in front of him was one he would never forget. 

Taylor has unzipped his jeans and reached inside, pulling his dick out. Zac stared at it in awe as Taylor wrapped his hand around it and started pumping it furiously. He moved his gaze up to look at his brother’s face and caught him with the most blissed out expression he’d ever seen - It was hot enough that Zac felt himself already getting hard again, something that he’d never experienced so quickly before. He shifted underneath of Taylor and he opened his eyes, looking down at Zac. 

“Can I…?” He trailed off in a question, glancing down at Taylor’s hand. Taylor’s eyes opened wide, but then a small smile formed on his face and he nodded. He climbed off of Zac and he almost protested, but then Taylor laid on his back and grabbed one of Zac’s hands, pulling him on top of him. Without speaking, he took the hand and moved it to his shaft, closing both of their fists around it. Taylor hissed as Zac looked at their intertwined hands as though he’d never seen anything more exhilarating. 

“It’s not gonna bite.” Taylor teased softly. Zac snapped his head up to look into his eyes and felt himself blush. 

“Sorry, I just, I can’t believe this is happening.” 

Taylor leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

“Is it okay?” 

Zac nodded quickly, probably too quickly, if he thought about it too much, and kissed Taylor again. 

“It’s more than okay.” 

“Good.” Taylor smiled and then tightened his grip around his dick and Zac’s hand. “Have you ever done this before?” Zac shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed. “Perfect. I can teach you how to do it right.” The glint in Taylor’s eyes was enough to cause butterflies to form in Zac’s stomach as he let his brother guide his hand up and down his dick. “I like it a little rough, not too much, but enough that I can almost feel it burn.” Taylor squeezed Zac’s hand harder, causing him to increase his grip. “Just follow my lead.” 

Zac nodded his agreeance and concentrated on Taylor’s movements. The soft skin of his dick was intensified in contract with how hard he was and he found himself increasing the speed without Taylor’s guidance. He noticed that Taylor seemed to like to have the head twisted a little every once in a while and decided to do it once, just to see if he was right. 

“Fuck, you’re a quick learner.” Taylor threw his head back, exposing his neck. Zac couldn’t keep himself from dipping his head down and sucking on his collarbone. The noises coming from Taylor’s throat told him he was doing something right and he kept doing it as he jerked him off. His dick was fully hard again by that time and he rolled his hips down onto Taylor’s thigh, aching for any kind of relief. “Already?” Taylor chuckled under his breath. 

“I can’t help the things you do to me.” Zac moved his lips up to whisper into his ear before biting the lobe softly. Taylor thrust his hips into their combined grasp and they sped up the jerking together without having to voice it. 

“Zac, I’m gonna come.” Taylor gasped. Zac pulled away from him enough to look into his eyes and nodded, tightening their grip and pulling his dick faster than ever. Taylor let go of Zac’s hand and found Zac’s dick, pumping it to match his rhythm. Zac groaned, but he kept his eyes locked onto Taylor’s, wanting to see his face when he came. 

Taylor bit his lip before letting his mouth fall open in a moan as he came between the two of them. The look on his face was enough to make Zac follow right after with the second greatest orgasm of his life. When he was done, he fell onto Taylor, laying his head on his chest as he struggled to catch his breath. 

“Are you sure you’ve never done that before?” Taylor finally spoke, causing his chest to vibrate under Zac’s cheek. Zac rolled off of him and smiled the dopiest smile he’d even made and laughed. 

“I’m 100% positive I’ve never done that before. I think I’d remember something that amazing.” 

Taylor turned onto his side and locked eyes with Zac, causing him to blush. “Was that really okay?” Instead of speaking, Zac reached out and brushed the hair out of Taylor’s face, tucking it behind his ear before leaning in and giving him a peck on the lips. 

“I’m kind of shocked that you didn’t run out of here.” Zac bit his lower lip and felt his face grow hot. 

“I kind of have a confession to make.” A look of guilt took over Taylor’s face and a feeling of dread filled Zac’s stomach. He froze, his hand on Taylor’s cheek, as he waited for him to keep speaking. “I kind of heard you jerking off last week.” 

“YOU WHAT?!” Zac shot up in the bed, wincing as his dried come filled boxers pulled on him. Taylor followed suit and reached out, putting a hand on his arm, squeezing it in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring. 

“Don’t freak out, please don’t freak out. I know it’s weird, but it was after our fight in the driveway and I wanted to talk to you, but then I heard you through the door and I just… Kind of listened.” He looked down at the bed, feeling ashamed of being such a pervert. “I know I shouldn’t have, I don’t know what I was thinking, but then I heard you say my name and I couldn’t help but stay.” 

“You listened to me jerking off, you heard me say your name, and you didn't’ even say anything?!” Zac’s voice broke on the last word, something that rarely happened now that he was almost done with puberty. 

“It just seemed too weird to mention it.” Taylor mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. 

“More weird than your little brother masturbating to the thought of you?” Zac’s lip trembled, he felt so exposed and he didn’t like it at all. 

“Would it make you feel better if I told you that I went back to my room and jerked off to you?” Taylor’s voice came out in a whisper, which was slightly ridiculous considering what they’d just done together, but the confession filled the room and hung over it like a rain cloud. 

“What does this all mean?” Zac finally asked. Taylor shook his head and shrugged again. 

“What does it mean to you?” 

Zac knew what it meant to him - He’d been trying hard for weeks to deny how he felt, to chalk it all up to just missing the older brother he used to have, but he couldn’t deny it any longer. 

“I think I have feelings for you, Tay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all of the feedback on the last chapter, I love seeing your reactions to them!!!!! Let me know what you think of this one!!! (And don't hate me too much haha)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

** Taylor **

Zac’s confession left Taylor a little stunned - his brother had been doing a great job of leaving him speechless with the things he said and did as of late. Zac had feelings for him - like romantic feelings? Sexual feelings were obvious, of course, but sex didn’t always mean emotion, Taylor knew that for a fact. What was even more shocking was how unphased he was by the admission. Everything Zac had said or done that day made him reevaluate his own feelings, and the fact that he was actually fine with what they’d done together was enough to make him think that maybe romantic feelings weren’t too off course either.

“Wow, I’m doing a really good job of putting my foot in my mouth lately.” Zac said under his breath as he got up from the bed. He crossed his arms over his chest and avoided making eye contact with Taylor. “Maybe you should go to your own room.” Taylor got up from the bed, but instead of leaving, he just stood in front of Zac. He reached out and took Zac’s hands, uncrossing his arms and pulling them down in between them. 

“Sometimes I need time to think when you say things to me, Zac. You catch me off guard a lot.” He leaned down to try to catch Zac’s eye and smiled. “I never thought in a million years when I moved back here that we would be in this position. I honestly thought we would be fighting so hard day in and day out that we would have to be separated by force.” 

“Why did you think that?” Zac finally looked up and Taylor shrugged. 

“I know I abandoned you when I chose to live with mom instead of with dad. I know you resented me for it a lot, all you wanted was your big brother, but I was too wrapped up in basketball and then in my possible career that I just kind of didn’t pause to think about how you were feeling.” 

Zac sighed and sat back down on the bed, dragging Taylor with him because he refused to drop his hands. 

“I never hated you or anything, but you’re right, I did feel like you just completely dropped me and that really hurt. I idolized you, Tay, and then you just disappeared for four years.” 

Taylor felt his stomach drop and he looked down at the floor, unable to stand the look on Zac’s face. “Tay, we were kids, it happened a million years ago. I just want to move on from that. We’ve come a long way since you came home, and I don’t want to lose that.” 

Taylor nodded, but had to swallow hard to try to get rid of the lump in his throat. Zac squeezed his hand and he couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. “I feel like this is a really bad idea.” He looked up into Zac’s eyes and hated that the look of sadness crossed Zac’s face because he put it there. “Is it bad that I kinda don’t care though?” 

A huge grin broke out over Zac’s face and he leaned into Taylor, wrapping his arms around his middle and burying his face in his chest. “I’m really glad you said that because I really kinda don’t care either.” 

\--

Sneaking around to make out with Zac and spend time with him in a way that wasn’t suspicious turned out to be a lot easier than Taylor thought it would be. Walker worked a lot, though he still kept an eye on his kids, but he wasn’t the type of parent to poke his nose into their business. This genuinely shocked Taylor because he had a picture of his father painted in his head that he was some kind of evil tyrant and he had resented him for years for that. His mother had definitely helped to build that image up as well, telling horror stories from their marriage often… Well, as often as could be when she was around, which admittedly wasn’t very much.

There was a reason Taylor got into drugs and sleeping with older men, afterall. He was an emancipated minor and even though she had moved to LA to be with him to look after him, she found herself caught up in a whirlwind of fashion shows and clothing designers and ended up, somehow, becoming the head brand manager of an up and coming line of teen’s couture clothing in France. She had taken off with less than 24 hours notice to Taylor and he hadn’t seen her in… A really long time. Over a year, if he thought about it hard enough, though the phone calls were a little more current. Once or twice a month, he’d pick up his phone to a groan and have to force himself through a conversation with her blathering on about this and that, blah blah blah, crap Taylor would never understand nor care about in his regular life, but when he was a rock star and his time was precious… He _definitely_ didn’t give a shit. He typically put his phone on mute and kept on having a conversation with whoever he was wish, or in some cases, having sex with Alex, only unmuting her to cut her off and hang up on her. In the back of his mind, he knew he was being a jerk, he should be nicer to his mother, but then again, she wasn’t going to be winning any kind of mother of the year awards herself either, so he tried not to let it dwell on him. 

Sundays in the Hanson household were relaxing, if such a thing actually existed. Taylor had been home from LA for over three months and it was coming up Christmas. Winter’s in Oklahoma were something Taylor had completely forgotten about and he absolutely hated them. The wind was icy and the weather was cold and unforgiving, following him everywhere he went. Walker didn’t like keeping the heat cranked up in the house, told them to put more clothes on if they were cold, and Taylor had taken to going to bed with three blankets on his bed with sweatpants and a hoodie and _still_ managed to wake up freezing in the middle of the night half the time. 

He’d taken to sneaking into Zac’s room when that happened, slipping under the covers and wrapping his arms around his brother, burying his face into his back while absorbing all of the warmth Zac seemed to exude. He would never understand it, Zac was like a walking heater, but he didn’t complain on the nights he felt like his nose would fall off from frostbite. Zac used to wake up and make fun of him for a few seconds before going back to sleep, but as the trips became more and more of a routine, Zac barely even moved anymore, simply grunting and taking one of Taylor’s hands into his own, squeezing it lovingly, before going unconscious again. 

Taylor was a pretty light sleeper, and he had an internal alarm clock that always managed to wake him up around 6am, no matter what state he was in. It was something he hated when he was partying, he could go to bed at 5am and still be woken up an hour later because his body just _hated_ him, but it was something he’d grown to be grateful for, considering it would get him up and out of Zac’s bed before Walker might walk in and discover what his two sons were up to in the middle of the night. Sunday morning, however, seemed to fail him. The doorbell woke him up and he opened his eyes groggily, trying to figure out where he was. He was sweating up a storm, he felt like he was sitting on a furnace, and his face was buried into something soft and warm. 

It hit him all at once that he was still in Zac’s bed, wrapped around his little brother, and it was most definitely past six in the morning. He jumped up, tripping over the sheets and landing on his side hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. 

“Was’ that?” Zac mumbled as he turned open, his eyes bleary with sleep. Taylor struggled to his feet and shook out his leg, trying to dispel the pain he was still feeling. 

“Someone’s at the door.” Taylor hissed, glancing at the alarm clock on the side of the bed. It was only 5:30am. Confusion overcame every part of him - He hadn’t overslept afterall, but who the hell would be ringing the doorbell at 5:30 in the freaking morning? Zac threw the cover off of him and stood up, stretching before wrapping his arms around Taylor’s shoulders and giving him a hug, a kiss finding its way to his neck. 

“Too early, need more sleep.” As much as Taylor wanted to agree with his brother, he knew that staying in bed together with Walker awake was too much of a risk. Besides, he was much too curious to see who was at the door at such an asinine hour in the morning. 

“Go back to sleep then, I’m gonna go see who’s at the door.” Taylor pulled away from the embrace, but let his hand travel down to Zac’s hand, giving it a squeeze before dropping it and making his way to the bedroom door. He pressed his ear to the wood and listened, hoping Walker had already passed by so he would leave without any suspicion. The doorbell rang again and he heard some awkward grunts and the sound of shuffling feet make their way past the door.

“I’m coming.” Walker called, though nowhere near loud enough for the person at the front door to hear. Taylor heaved a sigh of relief - They would definitely have been caught if he hadn’t been careful. He pulled the door open and walked into the hall, trying to stay light on his feet as he heard the front door open. Voices carried up the stairs, but he had a hard time making anything of the words. The person at the door was female, he could tell that much, and the tone in his father’s voice indicated that the female visitor was none too welcome. 

“Who is it?” Taylor jumped and looked behind him, hand clutching his chest as he saw Zac behind him. 

“Jesus fuck, you almost gave me a heart attack!” 

Zac shrugged and pushed past Taylor. 

“I thought you heard me follow you.” 

Taylor followed behind him to the bottom of the steps, stopping just before getting to the landing. They pressed to the wall, trying to look around the corner to see if they could see who was there. Walker’s body was taking up almost the entire doorway, making it almost impossible to see who was there. 

“You need to get the hell off my property and never come back, do you hear me?” Taylor shivered at how fierce his father sounded. He wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that lecture. “We’ve done just fine without you for the past few months, and we sure as hell don’t need you here now. Get the fuck off my front porch or so help me god, next time you’ll be met with the wrong end of a shotgun.” Zac shivered and pressed his back up against Taylor, looking over his shoulder with fear in his eyes. 

“Who is he talking to?!” Instead of answering, Taylor wound an arm around Zac’s waist and pulled him to him, trying to provide comfort in a half assed hug. He had his suspicions as to who it was at the door, but he didn’t want to say anything before he was 100% sure. 

“I have every right to be here, Clarke Walker, and you know it. If you threaten my life again, I will call the authorities and have you arrested!” The woman’s voice rose with anger and Taylor felt his throat close up - It was who he thought it was. 

His mother was back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhh okay you guys, I love this chapter so much. Like. SO MUCH. To anyone who ever hated Walker, I TOLD YOU HE WAS AMAZING, OKAY. I TOLD YOU AND YOU INSISTED HE WAS A DICK. HE IS NOT. HE IS THE BEST FATHER EVER! 
> 
> Ahem. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it. Also, you might have noticed I changed the ? chapters to 14. Yes, I have officially finished writing this fic! Only a few more and it's done! It was such a bittersweet moment, finishing it up, and I really hope that y'all have loved following me on this journey as much as I've enjoyed taking it!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

** Zac **

Zac felt Taylor almost turn to brick behind him and he didn’t know why. He didn’t recognize the voice of the woman at the door, but obviously Taylor did - Who was she? Was she someone he knew from LA, coming to try to take him away to fulfill his obligations?

“Tay, who is it?” He whispered, locking eyes with his older brother over his shoulder. He was shocked to see the fear in his eyes, and suddenly he knew that whoever she was, she was up to no good and she needed to leave their house as fast as possible. Taylor shook his head and pulled away from Zac, moving around him and to the front door, tapping their dad on the shoulder.

“Can I talk to her?” Taylor said, his voice so even but emotionless that Zac felt a sense of dread fill him. He hadn’t seen that side of Taylor since he’d gotten back from LA months before - He didn’t miss that person and the woman who brought that back out in him needed to vanish. 

“Taylor, you need to go upstairs and go back to bed, this isn’t a place for you.” Zac was surprised at the warmth in his dad’s voice, he and Taylor had been getting closer the past few weeks, but it really made him realize just how much with the tone of his voice. Taylor shook his head and crossed his arms. 

“It’s fine. Just let her in and we can talk for a few minutes and then she’ll leave.” He paused and Zac saw their dad open his mouth to protest when Taylor kept talking. “You can stay in the room, I don’t care. She won’t go away though, you know how she is.” Who the hell was this woman and why did she have so much control over his dad and brother?! Walker gritted his teeth, his jaw set so firm Zac’s own jaw ached at the idea of how much pain he was in, but finally he nodded and pushed the door open enough to let the woman in. 

Zac felt his jaw drop as he took in the sight of the woman in front of him. It took him all of five seconds, but it was clear to him who she was - Their mother. Their mother whom Zac hadn’t seen in over four years, not since Taylor left for LA and she left with him. She looked so much different than she had when she’d left - The mother he had before was, well… Motherly. Warm and affectionate with love radiating throughout her body, enough for both of her sons, but the person in front of him was so… Jagged and cold. She was skinny, much skinnier than he’d ever seen her, her face full of sharp angles, her cheeks hollowed to the point that she almost looked emaciated. Was this on purpose or did she have some kind of eating disorder? 

Diana walked into the house and looked at Taylor, opening her arms and practically throwing herself at him. “My poor baby, I heard about your little accident! I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you, you know how things are. How are you? Are you okay?” Zac could feel how uncomfortable Taylor was all the way from where he was standing, and he wanted to do anything to make him feel better. 

“I’m fine, Diana.” Taylor said through gritted teeth. The name shook Zac to his core, since when did Taylor refer to their parents by their real names? Hell, even with how bad his relationship had started out with their dad, Taylor still called him “father” or “sir”, never Walker. 

“Of course you’re alright, I never thought for a second you wouldn’t be, if I had, I would have been on the first plane back to LA as soon as I heard!” Diana’s voice was dripping with sweetness so fake that Zac almost gagged on it - Who the hell was this woman and what had she done with his mom? The woman who used to kiss his scraped knees and sing him lullabyes at bedtime. She was completely gone, replaced by this… Robot. 

Taylor pulled away from her embrace and shook his head stiffly. “Whatever, it’s fine. I’m fine, I’m alive, everything is fine. Did you need something else?” Zac couldn’t take it anymore, he needed to do something for Taylor, even if it was simply walking up behind him and placing a hand on his back to let him know he wasn’t alone. Diana shifted her gaze from Taylor to him and he steeled himself for a hug as fake as the one she had given Taylor. 

“Zachary, is that you?!” She exclaimed, her voice so high Zac almost held his hands over his ears. She sidestepped Taylor and threw her arms around him, just as he’d anticipated, feeling every bit as uncomfortable as Taylor had looked in his position. “You’ve gotten so big!” 

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you don’t see someone for four years.” Zac spat out angrily, bringing his hands to his mother’s arms and removing them from his body. She stepped away, hurt written all over her face, but he didn’t care. 

“That road runs both ways, sweetheart, you were more than welcome to come visit us in LA all this time! Or you could have come to Paris and stayed with me, we could have had a wonderful vacation!” Zac snorted and crossed his arms over his chest as he stepped in front of Taylor without even thinking about it - The need to protect his older brother from this _thing_ overwhelmed him. 

“You’re the mom, you’re the adult, if you wanted to see your 12 year old son, you could have called or sent me a plane ticket!” He saw Walker smile a little bit out of the corner of his eye and that gave him enough courage to continue. “I was 11 when you let, _Diana_ , what did you expect me to do?!” This time, it was Taylor’s turn to place a hand on Zac’s back to show him he wasn’t alone and Zac was more grateful than he could even express. 

“Your brother had, has, a very busy career, Zachary, and I have a very busy career of my own! I can’t just stop my life to cater to yours!” Tears sprang to Zac’s eyes, he’d spent so many years missing his mom, and then she finally appeared and all he got was… Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

“What happened to you?” He hissed, backing up a little until his back his Taylor’s chest. “Who are you?” The tears in his eyes finally spilled over, though he hated himself for letting them, and he turned into Taylor, wrapping his arms around his waist as he cried into his chest. 

“Diana, you’re time here is done. You need to leave.” Walker’s voice had the cold tone back to it and Zac jumped a little, causing Taylor to tighten his hold on him. 

“I see that. Well, I’ll be here through Christmas, I’m staying at a hotel downtown. I’d love to see you both again before I leave. I know things are tense right now, but I have faith that we can pull together and make this work.” 

“Leave.” Taylor spoke only one word, but it seemed to be enough. Zac didn’t pull away to watch the rest of the scene unfold before him, but he heard the door open and close, letting him know that their mother had left. A moment later, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he pulled away from Taylor enough to see his dad looking down at him, pity and concern all over his face. 

“You alright?” He asked, though as soon as he asked the question, he obviously realized the answer was no. “Sorry, dumb question.” 

“Has she always been like that and I just didn’t realize it?” Zac asked, not letting go of Taylor, but pulling back enough to be able to talk without muffling his voice. 

“No, Zac, she hasn’t.” Walker said sadly, squeezing his shoulder. “Even after our divorce, she was still a good person. The woman you remember from your childhood? She was real. I just don’t know what’s happened to her now.” 

“She got a taste of fame and fortune.” Taylor scoffed and shook his head. “She saw how my fame opened so many doors for both of us and she used me to get her foot in the door at some fashion label whatever. Told me it was for the both of us so that she could be more than just Taylor Hanson’s mom, but when she left and only called a couple times a month, I knew things had changed.” Zac looked up at his face and was shocked to see tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that alone, son.” Walker said, placing his other hand on Taylor’s shoulder and giving it the same affectionate squeeze. “I’m really sorry.” 

Taylor shrugged and looked down at Zac, then back up at Walker. “It’s not your fault. We both made mistakes, but I’m just glad that I’m here, now, trying to fix them.” 

The most shocking thing that Zac had ever seen happened after Taylor spoke those words - He saw tears well up in his dad’s eyes for the first time in his life. He’d never seen him cry, not even when his own father died, and it was enough to stun him speechless. 

“I’m really glad you feel that way, Taylor, because I feel the same way, too. I know I should have done more for you as your father, and I’m sorry I failed you.” Taylor opened his mouth to speak, likely to protest, but Walker just shook his head. “We have the chance for a fresh start and we’re taking it, ya hear? No more going back and forth about the past - We’ve had enough words about that to last a lifetime. Now is the time to begin again.” 

Zac removed one arm from around Taylor’s waist and wrapped it around their dad’s, pulling him into the circle for a group hug. It finally felt like things were starting to look up for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments on the last chapter, y'all!!!!! They make my heart so happy. I hope you love this one just as much as I do!


	13. Chapter 13

** Taylor **

The months that followed Diana’s impromptu visit flew by. She had tried to come by a few days later, ringing the doorbell for almost half an hour before realizing that they weren’t going to answer the door and let her in. She had left a note on the door addressed to both Zac and Taylor, but Taylor took it off the door and ripped it into tiny pieces without bothering to look at it - Nothing she could say would be enough to change the things that had happened between them.

The new year brought more bad weather, but Taylor couldn’t stop himself from not minding in the least. Basketball season was long over, so Zac was home a lot more often than he had been before, though he still went to the gym to workout and practice to stay in shape. Taylor joined him sometimes, but more often than not, he was distracted by the sight of Zac lifting weights that he just stood in the middle of the gym with his mouth hanging slightly open, gawking at how incredibly beautiful his brother was. 

The first time he got caught, Zac laughed at him and made a big show out of lifting the weights slower, putting on the best show he could, until he cracked and started laughing so hard he was crying and rolling around on the floor. Taylor always turned bright red and felt like punching him in the face, but he managed to hold himself together until they were in the locker room, alone, where he pushed him up against the walls of the shower and kissed him senseless, all in the name of teaching him a lesson of course. 

The second time he got caught, Zac just blushed a little bit, but kept doing his work out. Taylor didn’t even think he had noticed he was staring until he let his eyes travel downward here he saw a very noticeable bulge in Zac’s gym shorts. So Zac was getting off on the idea of being watched… Taylor just smirked and went back to his own work out, filing the information away in the back of his head for future reference. When they got to the locker room, it was Zac’s turn to shove him against the walls of the shower and show him who was boss. 

They kept up their routine of working out, teasing each other, and making out for weeks before Zac finally broke. They had gotten home from the gym, exhausted and aching both from their work out and from their extra curricular activities in the showers, and collapsed onto Taylor’s bed. Zac groaned and turned onto his side, looking at Taylor’s gorgeous face as he tried to relax. 

“This still isn’t weird, right?” 

Taylor’s eyes shot open and looked at Zac with surprise. 

“Uhhh, no?”

Zac sighed and propped himself up on one hand so that he could look down at his brother. 

“You promise?” 

Taylor reached over and cupped Zac’s cheek in his hand, smiling at him. 

“You think too much, ya know that? What’s brought this on?” 

Zac shrugged and bit his lower lip. 

“Well, your birthday is coming up soon, you’ll be 18, and you have your court date coming too, and well, if you’re deemed to be okay to be on your own again, you’ll be going back to LA, right? And then I’ll still be here for another couple of years and then you’ll just forget all about me.” 

Taylor gave him a look of surprise before leaning in and placing a small kiss on his lips. 

“Zac, I could never forget about you. You have to know that. You’re the single most important person in my entire life, and even if the conservatorship is dropped, I’m not leaving you.” 

“You’re not?” Zac’s lip quivered and Taylor ran his thumb over it, stilling the motion. 

“Of course not. I love you, Zac, I can’t leave you.” 

Zac couldn’t help but gasp, they’d never said that to each other before, though Zac knew he’d felt it for longer than he cared to voice. 

“You love me?” He managed to whisper. Taylor smiled broadly and nodded. 

“I have for a long time.” He leaned in and kissed Zac on the lips again. 

“I love you, too.” Zac managed to get out before Taylor kissed him again, opening his mouth and pushing his tongue into his mouth, groaning as their tongues met. Taylor shifted his weight and laid Zac on his back before swinging a leg over his hip, straddling him against the bed. He pulled back and slid his hands up under Zac’s shirt, pushing it up until Zac for the hint and sat up enough for Taylor to pull it up and over his head. He took his shirt off too and threw them to the side of the bed before attaching his lips to Zac’s neck, sucking on one of the many spots he’d discovered made Zac go weak. 

“Tay, don’t stop.” Zac moaned, pushing his hips up against Taylor’s, letting him know just how turned on he was already. Taylor growled and thrust down to meet him, groaning when their dicks met through the fabric. 

“Pants off.” Taylor mumbled, hooking his hand on the inside of Zac’s shorts and pulling them down. He was surprised to see he’d gone sans underwear after their shower at the gym, but he was definitely not complaining. He shucked his own short off as well, then his boxers, before settling back on top of Zac, fully naked. 

“Fuck, this feels so good.” Zac groaned raking a hand through Taylor’s hair as they grinded together slowly. They had all the time in the world, or so it felt, and Taylor was going to take his time. He moved down Zac’s body, nipping and kissing at his stomach before coming to a stop at his dick. It was hard and already leaking at the tip, and before Zac could even begin to beg, Taylor took him into his mouth, sliding down as far as he could go before bobbing back up. He released his dick and mouthed at the tip, causing Zac to practically howl. Taylor would have smirked if he wasn’t so concentrated on what he was doing - He knew just how to make Zac feel good and he was a damn professional at it. 

Zac wound his hands into Taylor’s hair and pulled slightly. “Stop teasing me.” He groaned, throwing his head back as Taylor took him back into his mouth. He worked his mouth down slowly, relaxing his throat until he felt Zac’s dick hit the back of it. He pulled back a little, then sunk back down, working his tongue against the underneath as he did so. 

“Oh god, fuck, Tay, I’m gonna come.” Zac’s voice was loud, much louder than he’d ever been before, and Taylor loved it, loved that he was the person doing that. Instead of letting him get off, however, he pulled away and kissed his way back up Zac’s body, meeting his lips in a haze of lust. 

“Wanna watch you.” He murmured against his lips as he reached between them and grasped both of their dicks in his hand. He pumped them together, going faster as he got closer to his own orgasm. Their moans mixed together until Taylor couldn’t tell whose voice was who’s, their voices mixing together in perfect harmony. He felt his stomach tighten and knew he was almost there. 

“I’m gonna -” He cut himself off with a loud moan as his orgasm ripped through him, spilling onto Zac’s stomach. He only had to pump a couple more times before Zac came with a moan of his own, their come mixing together on his stomach. Taylor collapsed down onto the bed next to him, burying his face in his neck. “Holy fuck.” He managed to breathe out. 

“That was the best orgasm of my life.” Zac ran a hand through Taylor’s hair before bringing it to his back, letting it run lazily up and down his spine without thinking about it. 

“Guess that’s what happens when love is involved.” 

Zac snorted and pinched Taylor a little, causing him to yelp. 

“You’re such a fucking sap, ya know what?”

Taylor lifted his head enough to look into Zac’s eyes and smiled.

“Yeah, but you love me.” 

Zac blushed, but he smiled and nodded. 

“Yeah, I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, I'm so sorry for the wait for this one! I suck, life has been HECTIC!!! Hope you love this, let me know!


	14. Chapter 14

** Zac **

Taylor’s birthday loomed in front of Zac like some kind of Doomsday beacon. Even though they’d discussed what Taylor would do once he turned 18, Zac still felt really unsure of what was going to happen. He was only 15 and he felt like he was moving into something way over his head, but he had had a lot of time to think about what was going on between him and Taylor and he realized that he had never felt happier in his life. It was wrong, he knew that much, and he knew that their dad would likely flip out if he ever found out, but that didn’t matter to him. He loved Taylor and Taylor loved him and that was the most important thing in the world.

The night before Taylor’s birthday, Zac had planned to surprise his brother with a blowjob as his very first present of the day, but Walker had pulled him aside and told him he wanted to do something special for Taylor, since it was his first birthday back with them and all and Zac couldn’t help but agree - It had been a long time since he’d seen his dad be so excited and he wanted to keep him looking like that as long as possible. 

Midnight rolled around and Zac and Walker stood outside of Taylor’s room, a birthday cake in Walker’s hands with candles lit and a small package in Zac’s hand, a gift to Taylor from their dad. 

“You ready?” Walker’s smile lit up the dark hallway more than the candle’s did and Zac couldn’t help but smile back - It had been way too long since he’d seen his dad truly happy. 

“Let’s do it.” Zac nodded and reached out for the door handle, twisting it and pushing the door open. His eyes took a second to adjust to the dark room, but then he saw the lump on the bed and knew his brother was passed out for the night. Excellent. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Walker shouted as Zac reached over and flipped the room light on. Taylor jumped into a sitting position faster than Zac thought possible, making him almost double over laughing at the sight. They sang an off key rendition of Happy Birthday to Taylor, complete with four or five made up verses just to keep the laughs going before Walker finally shoved the cake in front of Taylor’s face. 

“Make a wish, Tay.” 

Zac could see the shock on his brothers face at their dads use of his nickname and he couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath, hoping that it hadn’t ruined anything. 

“I’ve kind of got everything I want right here, dad.” Taylor’s voice sounded thick, as though he was holding back tears, but before Zac could see closely, he closed his eyes and blew the candles out in one breath. Walker set the cake down on the bedside table and held his hand out to Zac for the gift box he was holding. 

“Now when you open this, don’t go getting all excited or anything, okay? And if you don’t like it, we can look for something else.” 

Zac was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxious to see Taylor’s reaction to the gift. He’d been working with his dad for a few weeks finding just the right thing and he just knew his brother would love it. Confusion took over Taylor’s face, but he took the box and tore off the wrapping paper before opening the lid. He pulled out a set of keys and then looked back up at their dad, looking even more confused than he had just seconds prior. 

“I don’t get it.” 

Walker cleared his throat and brought his hand up to scratch at his cheek, looking embarrassed. 

“Those are the keys to your new apartment. Downtown.” 

Taylor’s jaw dropped and Zac hurried to sit down next to him on the bed. 

“It’s so awesome, Tay! You have to see it, it’s a two bedroom and it’s above a bunch of shops, you have the coolest restaurant right downstairs -” Taylor cut him off. 

“Are you kicking me out?” He looked at Walker and Zac felt his heart sink.

“What? No, Taylor, of course not.” Walker sat down on the other side of Taylor and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I just wanted to show you that I support you and I trust you, and I know you want your own place, I know you’ve wanted it for a while, and you deserve it.’ He paused, taking a deep breath. “If you don’t want to move out though, you’re more than welcome to stay here. You will always have a home with me, Taylor. I promise you that.”

Taylor leaned into Walker and wrapped his arms around him, giving him a hug. Zac felt a lump form in his throat and he swallowed it down before sliding closer to Taylor and sliding his arms around both of them. They sat that way for a few minutes, each crying silently though they would never admit it to anyone else or themselves, before regaining their composure and pulling away from each other. 

“What about the court date?” Taylor’s voice was still scratchy and Zac took one of his hands in his, giving it a tight squeeze. 

“There is no court date. I met with my lawyer and we got the judge to sign off on ending the conservatorship, effective at midnight on your 18th birthday. You’re a free man.” 

Tears started falling down Taylor’s face again and it took everything inside of Zac to keep him from reaching out to wipe them away. 

“I owe you my life. You both. I owe you everything.” 

\--  
It only took a few days to pack up everything Taylor owned to move it into his new apartment. Zac was happy for his brother, so incredibly happy, but the more empty his room got, the bigger the pit in his stomach. He had only been with Taylor for half a year, and now he felt like he was losing him again. Zac didn’t have his driver’s license, so being able to take a drive down to see his brother was literally impossible and he began to worry that he’d never see him again. 

Once everything was uploaded and tucked away upstairs, Walker, Zac, and Taylor had dinner at the restaurant below Taylor’s apartment. They ate way too much, but it was a celebration, so of course they had to do it up correctly. When the time finally came to leave, they all walked out to Walker’s car. Taylor gave their dad a huge hug and then gave Zac one as well, though it didn’t last nearly as long as he wanted it to. His eyes started stinging as Taylor pulled away from him and he looked down at the ground, determined not to let his brother see him cry. 

“Hey.” Taylor grabbed his hand for a second to get his attention. “You know I’ll always be around. And you can come over any time.”

“I don’t have a car.” Zac mumbled, feeling every bit as ridiculous saying it out loud as he felt saying it in his head. 

“Well, I’ll come pick you up then, I don’t care, day or night, call me and I’ll come get you.” 

Zac shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Walker was already in the car and sounded a short beep of the horn to let Zac know he needed to get in so they could go. He looked behind him and frowned a little, trying to delay the inevitable. He turned back to Taylor, but his brother was walking around the car. He knocked on the driver’s side window and Walker rolled it down. They talked for a minute before a smile overtook Taylor’s face. He nodded a few times and gave an exasperated laugh before reaching into the window and giving their dad a hug. Zac had no idea what was going on until Walker turned to him and waved quickly before pulling out onto the road and taking off. 

“He’s letting me stay?” 

Taylor laughed and walked up to him, lacing their fingers together now that they had the option. 

“Yeah, he’s letting you stay. I had to promise not to get you drunk, there are no drugs allowed, and no strippers, though, so I don’t know how great of a night it’s gonna be.” 

It took a few seconds for the information to sink in, but once it did, Zac surged forward, smashing his lips to Taylor’s. Taylor returned the kiss almost immediately, pressing into him with everything he had. They made out for a minute on the sidewalk before someone wolf whistling them brought them both back. Zac pulled away, but only enough to leave the smallest amount of space between them, and looked into Taylor’s eyes. 

“Thank you for doing this. I know it’s your first night and the last thing you want is me crowding your space -” 

“Zac, I always want you around.” Taylor leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. “I never don’t want you around, so don’t say that.” Zac wanted to protest because, well, arguing was one of his favorite past times, but instead he just smiled and squeezed Taylor’s hands in his own. 

“Come on, I have a late birthday present for you.” He turned and started tugging Taylor toward the stairs. 

“A late present? What is it?” 

Zac turned around and gave him an impish smirk before leaning in to whisper into his ear. “Well, I feel like every birthday boy deserves a blowjob, right?” He felt Taylor shudder against him and then all of a sudden Zac was being pulled up the stairs, forced to take them two at a time to match Taylor’s speed. He threw his head back in laughter, so happy to just be _happy_. Taylor turned around and returned his grin, causing a smattering of butterflies to overtake his stomach. 

“Maybe if you’re lucky, we can christen every room in the house before the night is over.” 

\--

It was a bold ambition, but every room in the house was a little too much to hope for, even for two horny teenagers. Zac was willing to give it a go in the kitchen, whispering sweet nothings about falling to his knees on the kitchen floor and leaning Taylor against the counter so that he could always think about them whenever he was making something to eat, but Taylor had to beg off, stating he would die of dehydration if he kept going. Zac pouted, but found himself amenable to cuddling in bed and putting a movie on, so long as they got to perform previously mentioned acts in the morning. 

As they lay curled up on the bed, Zac’s head on Taylor’s chest and Taylor’s arms wrapped around his body, Zac moved his head to look up at his brother. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, not really sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. Taylor looked down at him and gave him a small smile. 

“What’s on your mind? I can hear you thinking.” 

Zac snorted under his breath, but sat up so that he was facing Taylor and crossed his legs. 

“Are you sure you’re not gonna miss LA?” He bit his lip and hung his head, feeling stupid for even asking. He knew he required constant reassurance about it and Taylor was probably getting sick of it, but he couldn’t help himself. 

“Zac, I can’t miss somewhere I was never truly happy.” He reached his hand out and placed it on Zac’s knee, giving it a squeeze. “LA is full of liars and imposters anyway, why would I want to go back there?” 

“You’re giving up your whole career.” Zac whispered, not moving his head, but allowing his hand to rest on top of his brother’s on his knee. 

“Well, technically, I wasn’t given a choice in the matter.” Zac’s head shot up to argue, but Taylor kept talking. “But I promise you I don’t miss it. I love making music, and I’m sure it’s something I could do later on in my life, but what I was doing? It wasn’t music - I was a puppet putting on a performance. I don’t miss anything about it.” 

“And you won’t resent me for keeping you here?” Zac’s biggest fear fell out of his mouth and as much as he wanted to take it back, he knew he needed to hear the answer. 

“I could never resent you, Zac.” Taylor scooted closer to him and placed a hand on his face, running a thumb along his cheekbone. “You saved my life.” A smile crept along Zac’s face and he leaned into his brother to press their lips together. 

“You saved mine, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap y'all, this is IT! Thanks for sticking with me throughout this wild ride, it's been so much fun. This story has changed so much from how I initially thought it was going to go, but I love it so much and am so happy other's do as well. Let me know your thoughts and feelings and opinions, as always!!!


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